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Chapter 5: Welcome to the big boys club, 1622 - 1646
Sorry for the delay with the update, but there are things such as work and dancing to be taken care of prior to conquering the world... Anyhow:
The war on Castille actually begins by Brunei declaring war on Ragusa – who is guaranteed by Portugal and Castille, protected by Scotland, defender of protestant faith, and in Swedish sphere of influence. Politics, gotta love 'em.
After few initial pushes on the Anatolian front it quickly becomes obvious that my biggest enemies are the rebels. There’s an almost 30-regiment strong stack of Syrian nationalists who are composed of Maurician Infantry and Latin Caracole cavalry.
By January 1623 Castille already has war exhaustion of over 10 and in April they offer white peace. Thanks for the offer but I think I’ll pass. Also I notice that someone supplied the Buddhist zealots of Asia with first-class European equipment and training in tactics – they are using Maurician infantry and latin caracole cavalry.
Surprisingly, the conquest of Anatolia is very straightforward and simple. After the rebels are crushed, provinces are captured and the armies of Brunei happily move on. The Castillian doomstack is running around the West African coast, hunting rebels. Everything is proceeding perfectly until December 1624, when Lithuania declares war with their cronies.
However, they lack a border with me but shove almost 30 regiments at me, catching me off guard. I lose few regiments and then retreat, blocking the Bosporus while bringing more troops in.
By summer 1626 I’ve advanced all the way to North Africa, while Castille still has huge issues with rebels.
In fall 1626 I get my troops in place and attack across the Bosporus. Lithuanian army is crushed in battles of Silistria and Burgas, breaking their will to fight and they cede 525 ducats for peace. After that success, I prepare to assault Iberia proper, load troops onto transports and move. First troops land in Granada in November 1626, after which I make a beeline for Toledo, which is captured in February 1627.
To complicate things, Portugal still has quite an army in Iberia so I simply capture as much as I can in order to get maximum number of provinces from Castille and then make peace while avoiding the Portuguese. In December 1627 Castille cedes half of Anatolia and African provinces all the way to Tunis, including Jerusalem. As a bonus, Portugal has also been suffering and release Shawnee and Cherokee and donate 875 ducats. Somewhere along the way the Castillian doomstack was probably disbanded after it was caught on a province that declared independence – at least it was lost in Figuig and never reappeared from there.
After focusing on Europe, it seems a good time to take care of some unfinished business in the back yard – namely, Ming. A declaration of war is delivered in September 1628, on the receiving end are Ming, Manchu, Mongol Khanate and Kashmir. One picture tells more than a thousand words so I’ll just leave this here.
By June 1630 Manchu has become an OPM, Oirat Horde (I declared war on them on the go) reduced to an OPM status, Majapahit annexed (another sidetrack), Kashmir ceded 3 provinces and Ming is left with only 3 provinces. Asia is more or less divided between me and Muscowy now.
In HttT countries are a bit less keen on joining in on wars if they are a horrible mess. However, in 1630, Castille are again completely overwhelmed by rebels so I have to go to war with them in order to keep Anatolia from declaring independence. Politics can be interesting sometimes. The problem is that I cannot really declare war without dragging few other great powers into the war. In the end I decide to declare war on Burgundy, who is allied with Castille and Bourbonnais. Milan also joins in as the Defender of Catholic faith.
I’m again using Liberation CB to go attack Castille in order to crush rebels and who are trying to liberate their country from the Castillian yoke so that I can take the provinces myself. Makes sense, right?
Castille has some troops in North Africa, but those are dispatched after a few battles. However, in Anatolia, Milan and Burgundy have plenty of troops to throw at my general direction. After a few trials and errors (and quite a few dead soldiers), I notice that my best choice is to put 20 regiments on the other side of Bosporus with excellent generals and let Milanese/Burgundian armies try to cross the strait. They try, sometimes even winning the initial battle, but are quickly wiped out. Milan had 90 galleons running around so I can’t blockade the strait as my fleet cannot take them on.
Of course, in July 1632, Muscowy declares war. Which is pretty anticlimactic, as Muscowy simply shoves 75 regiments of troops into the Georgian mountains, gets it’s WE skyrocketing and in February 1633 they offer white peace, which I accept. They did not even capture Alania - military experts are calling this a failure of epic proportions.
After that slightly surrealistic but highly comical interruption I start focusing on Milan as I need them out of the picture in order to take the provinces on the Balkans. Thus, I initially start blockading Milanese ports, which quickly turns into caravels versus galleons free-for-all combat in the Mediterranean and the coast of Africa. I even catch one group of 45 galleons near west coast of Africa, probably heading to… Bruneis’ home islands, perhaps? 80+ sunken galleons later Brunei’s ships are in such a horrible shape that I actually start losing them to attrition in the Mediterranean! However, the operation is worth it as in June 1634 Milan accepts white peace.
After fixing my ships, I again land in Iberia in April 1635. Battle for Iberia takes place in Cordoba, where 40 Brunei regiments crush 20 Castillians while 20 Castillian regiments stand idly in the neighbouring province. They were already on their way to reinforce the battle but I guess they just gave up. After that, Castille are done for and they cede the remainder of North Africa and their South African colonies for peace.
Also, let nobody say that I’m not here to bring freedom and peace to everyone: Burgundy releases several nations for peace:
But since I ferried troops to Iberia, it would be a shame just to transport them back to Africa. Thus, I declare war on Granada, Portugal and Morocco in August 1636. The war is really short: Granada becomes an OPM in March 1673. I declare wars on quite a few countries in rapid succession, just to do some cleaning up. The list includes, in no particular order:
Algiers – OPM in August 1637
Kashmir – OPM in April 1638
Ming – OPM in Dec 1637
Persia – cedes 5 provinces in Aug 1639
Mongol Khanate – Annexed in Feb 1638
Chagatai – OPM in August 1639
Morocco – OPM in December 1639
Portugal – cedes the Iberian provinces in December 1639
Tunis – annexed in June 1639
Tripoli –OPM in June 1639
My cleanup is interrupted in October 1639 as I become opportunistic after seeing Castille being overrun be rebels - again! This time, the war is fought against Transylvania, Castille, Poland, Scotland and Hungary. Of course in December 1639 Muscowy declares war. This is why we can’t have nice things.
Against Castille the war consists of mostly me crushing Iberia and Anatolia, just as I have been doing twice now. With Muscowy, there are actually three fronts: near present-day Georgia (province of Alenia), in asian steppes and around former Persian territory. In Alenia and Asia I merely counterattack when possible and try to raise WE. The actual fighting takes place between Arabia and India.
As both sides are casually throwing around armies of 30-50 regiments, casualties are high and attrition massive. Muscowy loses almost every single encounter but they have much more troops in the theater – I need to recover morale and recruit new troops, however shipping new armies from my core provinces takes quite a while. I’m not really making much headway.
Meanwhile, Oirat Horde and Manchu declare war in March 1641 – both are annexed by August 1641.
Muscowian war has massive battles, but Muscowy has such a huge amount of troops that advancing is very difficult and increasing WE hurts me more with the overextended modifier. Eventually after making some headway in Arabia I make peace with Muscowy in August 1641: They cede 7 provinces and release Novgorod. I’m hoping that it will weaken them enough that they will be easier to fight the next time.
In September 1641 the war with Castille comes to an end. Castille cedes the remainder of Anatolia for peace. As I’ve accumulated WE of over 3, it’s time to bring it down by lying down a bit - I merely annex Travanacore and turn Khorasan into an OPM during the lull in the fighting.
In the spirit of cleaning up, I also declare war on Granada, Portuga, Morocco, Aragon and Bavaria. I was hoping to goad Castille into another war but they keep out. By March 1643 I’ve
- Reduced my WE to zero
- Annexed Granada
- Annexed Morocco
- Annexed Algiers
- Taken 3 provinces from Aragon in Iberia, including a COT in Valencia.
However, the war against Portugal continues. They are living in the Americas now, so hurting them is not particularly easy. Thus, I set myself to take out everything they still have in the Old World and Africa. In similar vein, I continue my conquest of Iberia: In July I declare war on Cherokee, Castille and Shawnee. Castilians fall over, just as they did in the previous wars.
Meanwhile, I take out the Portuguese navy who has been harassing me in Asia – they even took out one of my transport fleets. As an added bonus, I capture some of Africa.
Castille loses some parts of Iberia in April 1646.
Meanwhile, the New World meets 6th army of Brunei.
After few provinces taken from them in the New World, Portugal accepts peace, ceding all the islands in the Atlantic and Puerto Rico. Now I have a base from which I can start liberating the New World as well, excellent…
Meanwhile, in the British Isles…
World in 1646.
Sorry for the delay with the update, but there are things such as work and dancing to be taken care of prior to conquering the world... Anyhow:
The war on Castille actually begins by Brunei declaring war on Ragusa – who is guaranteed by Portugal and Castille, protected by Scotland, defender of protestant faith, and in Swedish sphere of influence. Politics, gotta love 'em.
After few initial pushes on the Anatolian front it quickly becomes obvious that my biggest enemies are the rebels. There’s an almost 30-regiment strong stack of Syrian nationalists who are composed of Maurician Infantry and Latin Caracole cavalry.
By January 1623 Castille already has war exhaustion of over 10 and in April they offer white peace. Thanks for the offer but I think I’ll pass. Also I notice that someone supplied the Buddhist zealots of Asia with first-class European equipment and training in tactics – they are using Maurician infantry and latin caracole cavalry.
Surprisingly, the conquest of Anatolia is very straightforward and simple. After the rebels are crushed, provinces are captured and the armies of Brunei happily move on. The Castillian doomstack is running around the West African coast, hunting rebels. Everything is proceeding perfectly until December 1624, when Lithuania declares war with their cronies.
However, they lack a border with me but shove almost 30 regiments at me, catching me off guard. I lose few regiments and then retreat, blocking the Bosporus while bringing more troops in.
By summer 1626 I’ve advanced all the way to North Africa, while Castille still has huge issues with rebels.
In fall 1626 I get my troops in place and attack across the Bosporus. Lithuanian army is crushed in battles of Silistria and Burgas, breaking their will to fight and they cede 525 ducats for peace. After that success, I prepare to assault Iberia proper, load troops onto transports and move. First troops land in Granada in November 1626, after which I make a beeline for Toledo, which is captured in February 1627.
To complicate things, Portugal still has quite an army in Iberia so I simply capture as much as I can in order to get maximum number of provinces from Castille and then make peace while avoiding the Portuguese. In December 1627 Castille cedes half of Anatolia and African provinces all the way to Tunis, including Jerusalem. As a bonus, Portugal has also been suffering and release Shawnee and Cherokee and donate 875 ducats. Somewhere along the way the Castillian doomstack was probably disbanded after it was caught on a province that declared independence – at least it was lost in Figuig and never reappeared from there.
After focusing on Europe, it seems a good time to take care of some unfinished business in the back yard – namely, Ming. A declaration of war is delivered in September 1628, on the receiving end are Ming, Manchu, Mongol Khanate and Kashmir. One picture tells more than a thousand words so I’ll just leave this here.
By June 1630 Manchu has become an OPM, Oirat Horde (I declared war on them on the go) reduced to an OPM status, Majapahit annexed (another sidetrack), Kashmir ceded 3 provinces and Ming is left with only 3 provinces. Asia is more or less divided between me and Muscowy now.
In HttT countries are a bit less keen on joining in on wars if they are a horrible mess. However, in 1630, Castille are again completely overwhelmed by rebels so I have to go to war with them in order to keep Anatolia from declaring independence. Politics can be interesting sometimes. The problem is that I cannot really declare war without dragging few other great powers into the war. In the end I decide to declare war on Burgundy, who is allied with Castille and Bourbonnais. Milan also joins in as the Defender of Catholic faith.
I’m again using Liberation CB to go attack Castille in order to crush rebels and who are trying to liberate their country from the Castillian yoke so that I can take the provinces myself. Makes sense, right?
Castille has some troops in North Africa, but those are dispatched after a few battles. However, in Anatolia, Milan and Burgundy have plenty of troops to throw at my general direction. After a few trials and errors (and quite a few dead soldiers), I notice that my best choice is to put 20 regiments on the other side of Bosporus with excellent generals and let Milanese/Burgundian armies try to cross the strait. They try, sometimes even winning the initial battle, but are quickly wiped out. Milan had 90 galleons running around so I can’t blockade the strait as my fleet cannot take them on.
Of course, in July 1632, Muscowy declares war. Which is pretty anticlimactic, as Muscowy simply shoves 75 regiments of troops into the Georgian mountains, gets it’s WE skyrocketing and in February 1633 they offer white peace, which I accept. They did not even capture Alania - military experts are calling this a failure of epic proportions.
After that slightly surrealistic but highly comical interruption I start focusing on Milan as I need them out of the picture in order to take the provinces on the Balkans. Thus, I initially start blockading Milanese ports, which quickly turns into caravels versus galleons free-for-all combat in the Mediterranean and the coast of Africa. I even catch one group of 45 galleons near west coast of Africa, probably heading to… Bruneis’ home islands, perhaps? 80+ sunken galleons later Brunei’s ships are in such a horrible shape that I actually start losing them to attrition in the Mediterranean! However, the operation is worth it as in June 1634 Milan accepts white peace.
After fixing my ships, I again land in Iberia in April 1635. Battle for Iberia takes place in Cordoba, where 40 Brunei regiments crush 20 Castillians while 20 Castillian regiments stand idly in the neighbouring province. They were already on their way to reinforce the battle but I guess they just gave up. After that, Castille are done for and they cede the remainder of North Africa and their South African colonies for peace.
Also, let nobody say that I’m not here to bring freedom and peace to everyone: Burgundy releases several nations for peace:
But since I ferried troops to Iberia, it would be a shame just to transport them back to Africa. Thus, I declare war on Granada, Portugal and Morocco in August 1636. The war is really short: Granada becomes an OPM in March 1673. I declare wars on quite a few countries in rapid succession, just to do some cleaning up. The list includes, in no particular order:
Algiers – OPM in August 1637
Kashmir – OPM in April 1638
Ming – OPM in Dec 1637
Persia – cedes 5 provinces in Aug 1639
Mongol Khanate – Annexed in Feb 1638
Chagatai – OPM in August 1639
Morocco – OPM in December 1639
Portugal – cedes the Iberian provinces in December 1639
Tunis – annexed in June 1639
Tripoli –OPM in June 1639
My cleanup is interrupted in October 1639 as I become opportunistic after seeing Castille being overrun be rebels - again! This time, the war is fought against Transylvania, Castille, Poland, Scotland and Hungary. Of course in December 1639 Muscowy declares war. This is why we can’t have nice things.
Against Castille the war consists of mostly me crushing Iberia and Anatolia, just as I have been doing twice now. With Muscowy, there are actually three fronts: near present-day Georgia (province of Alenia), in asian steppes and around former Persian territory. In Alenia and Asia I merely counterattack when possible and try to raise WE. The actual fighting takes place between Arabia and India.
As both sides are casually throwing around armies of 30-50 regiments, casualties are high and attrition massive. Muscowy loses almost every single encounter but they have much more troops in the theater – I need to recover morale and recruit new troops, however shipping new armies from my core provinces takes quite a while. I’m not really making much headway.
Meanwhile, Oirat Horde and Manchu declare war in March 1641 – both are annexed by August 1641.
Muscowian war has massive battles, but Muscowy has such a huge amount of troops that advancing is very difficult and increasing WE hurts me more with the overextended modifier. Eventually after making some headway in Arabia I make peace with Muscowy in August 1641: They cede 7 provinces and release Novgorod. I’m hoping that it will weaken them enough that they will be easier to fight the next time.
In September 1641 the war with Castille comes to an end. Castille cedes the remainder of Anatolia for peace. As I’ve accumulated WE of over 3, it’s time to bring it down by lying down a bit - I merely annex Travanacore and turn Khorasan into an OPM during the lull in the fighting.
In the spirit of cleaning up, I also declare war on Granada, Portuga, Morocco, Aragon and Bavaria. I was hoping to goad Castille into another war but they keep out. By March 1643 I’ve
- Reduced my WE to zero
- Annexed Granada
- Annexed Morocco
- Annexed Algiers
- Taken 3 provinces from Aragon in Iberia, including a COT in Valencia.
However, the war against Portugal continues. They are living in the Americas now, so hurting them is not particularly easy. Thus, I set myself to take out everything they still have in the Old World and Africa. In similar vein, I continue my conquest of Iberia: In July I declare war on Cherokee, Castille and Shawnee. Castilians fall over, just as they did in the previous wars.
Meanwhile, I take out the Portuguese navy who has been harassing me in Asia – they even took out one of my transport fleets. As an added bonus, I capture some of Africa.
Castille loses some parts of Iberia in April 1646.
Meanwhile, the New World meets 6th army of Brunei.
After few provinces taken from them in the New World, Portugal accepts peace, ceding all the islands in the Atlantic and Puerto Rico. Now I have a base from which I can start liberating the New World as well, excellent…
Meanwhile, in the British Isles…
World in 1646.
Chapter 6: Pro as f***, 1646 – 1669.
I’ll set the theme of this chapter right here: this will be about humiliating failures and horrible results based on either pure laziness or nonexistent planning. Enjoy.
So, you can do a WC while screwing up repeatedly. It will just be more difficult that way but it’s still very much possible. EU3 is not a difficult game, even on the hardest difficulty setting.
Before the funny and humiliating parts, let’s first do some cleanup: Kashmir and Ming need to go in February 1647, and as a bonus, OPM Delhi declares war as well. All countries, and Khorasan, who I declared war on-the-go, are annexed by August 1647. In April 1648 I take out Persia, Georgia and Hausa, after which I attack Timurids, Kazakh and Qara Koyunlu, and later also Astrakhan. Basically I attack every single Sunni nation except the Mameluks and some Africans. In August 1651 there are only a few nations left out of the ones I attacked: OPM Hausa, OPM Persia and OPM Kazakh. Asia is now pretty much mine.
Meanwhile, I professionally decided not to spend a single unit to blockade the Bosporus while full well knowing that Thrace spawns massive rebel blobs. The result was often this, pro as…:
And my superior warfare skills resulted in one of my armies being stranded in the African jungles since I tried to take it away from Hausa territory the wrong way. I then had to get into a fight with Hausa again by declaring war on the Mameluks just so that I could get the troops back before attrition would kill them. Getting a new stack to central Africa would be massively complicated and take almost a year. Pro as…
I’m keeping the Mameluks around because I have a core in Cairo from a border dispute few years ago. I’m hoping that they’ll ally with other Sunni states so I get a free war against them too. Sadly though, passing of 1650 means that I no longer have the holy war CB. Luckily I can still “liberate” nations. Oh, and on 1st of Jan 1651, I’m no longer overextended.
Things start to become remotely serious in August 1651 when Burgundy, Aragon and Bourbonnais declare war. There are two fronts, one in Africa and the other in Iberia/France. Unfortunately, I don’t have that many troops to send around in Iberia. In Africa things go very well but of course, in February 1652 I lose a large battle against Burgundy because I just plain suck and obviously want to make my life even harder. 20 regiments are decimated to the last man. Pro as…
At least I’ve been killing loads Burgundians. Every time I crush 20 regiments, a new stack of 20 regiments shows up from thin air. With me having only approx. 50 regiments in Iberia, the war goes very slowly. Besides, I need to dismantle the colonial empires of both nations in this war. By August 1654 Aragon is reduced to an OPM and I capture all their colonial possessions.
Finally in March 1656 I’m done with Burgundians: They cede provinces in Africa, North America and France, however I did not notice that they also had colonized Greenland. I’ll take the rest in the next war then.
On the side I annex Chagatai and take 5 provinces from Sokoto in Africa.
After the success against Burgundians, in November 1656 it’s time to fight Castille again. Sweden, Armagnac and Byzantium join to help Castille. Immediately after declaring war I notice that this was not the smartest thing ever as I have no troops in place to attack South America where Castille has massive holdings and I just gained a border with them by taking the Aragonese colonies… I do not have a navy to block the Bosporus either, which means that the Castillians are free to cross it while all I have to oppose them with are 10 regiments of troops garrisoning Anatolia against rebels. Pro as…
At least it goes well in Iberia. Armagnac is annexed in January 1657 and Sweden accepts white peace, which means I can start shipping troops to the new world – troops that I should have deployed there before I started the war! Meanwhile, Holland (a New World resident) declares war with Prussia, Portugal, Hamburg and Shawnee. Only the Cornwall-occupied British are not fighting with me in the New World now.
I start to make plans so I have few enemies less. Byzatium cedes Thrace for peace and Portugal are happy to let go of two provinces in South America. Meanwhile, I lost half of my fleet in the Americas against Castillians – I just did not bother to look if they were occupying the same sea zone as I was. Pro as…
After removing Portugal from the war, it’s pretty simple. Slowly Holland is taken apart and Castille too. Of course, I cannot reach South America now but I take what I can. By February 1662 I’ve taken some provinces from Holland and Castille gves quite a few provinces in the Americas. Just look at that fleet, I’ll soon lose it, because I’m so pro.
I’m slowly starting to think that there’s no way to avoid a war with Muscowy soon. They are massing so many troops around my borders that it must mean an attack. I do some cleaning up beforehand, though – I annex Hausa and in August 1665 I attack Castille again, to take out their American holdings. In short, I now have some troops in place so I can actually do what I was planning on doing in the previous Castillian war. That’s pretty pro too. Sweden and Portugal join in to support Castille in a war that starts in August 1665.
The following day TPM France and OPM Aragon declare war with Lithuania. It must be due to the dark missionary.
This time I actually get something done in South America as I have 30 regiments around to crush those pesky Castillians. Of course, as I’m so pro, I don’t really need to check if the sea zone I’m moving to is occupied or not. I mean, what could go wrong?
Yeah. It’s not like I would have wanted to move more troops to South America anyway. Or defend my islands from hostiles and crush rebels there. At least I still have one fleet left, right?
Aragon is annexed in September 1667, France becomes an OPM and Lithuania cedes Georgia.
In October 1667 my pet project finally bears fruit as Greece revolts away from Muscowy. I had to separate Milan and Muscowy somehow, because Milan had warned me and if I want to fight Muscowy without Milan, they cannot share a common border. Thus, I sponsored nationalists who finally captured Macedonia.
Oh, remember when I said that I still had one fleet, even though I lost one to the Portuguese? Guess what?
Pro as… I now literally have no fleet, just two groups of 10 transports. So, I don’t really see any way I could continue this war as I cannot get troops moved around. Thus in September 1688 Castille cedes half of their provinces in South America and 2250 ducats, Portugal cedes 2050 ducats and some cores. At least I’ll have money to build few fleets now. I currently have almost 50 big ships and 20 transports in queue; I suppose I need to sail around in fleets of 100 big ships at least.
Suddenly I notice the CB-sign and find out that I have a dishonored call –CB on Sokoto. I have no idea where that came from, perhaps they are the defender of the Sunni faith and they did not support me in my defensive war against Aragon and France? Nevertheless, they must pay. In October 1699 I’ve annexed Oman and Sokoto has been turned into a TPM. Meanwhile, OPM Greece declares war…
As I’m so pro with cliffhangers too, I’ll leave you to ponder how the OPM Greece fares against Brunei.
World map in 1669.
Oh, and I hope that in your games you all at least can be bothered to look at the screen occasionally or use some higher brain functions other than the push butan –neuron so you won’t fare as terribly as I now did.
I’ll set the theme of this chapter right here: this will be about humiliating failures and horrible results based on either pure laziness or nonexistent planning. Enjoy.
So, you can do a WC while screwing up repeatedly. It will just be more difficult that way but it’s still very much possible. EU3 is not a difficult game, even on the hardest difficulty setting.
Before the funny and humiliating parts, let’s first do some cleanup: Kashmir and Ming need to go in February 1647, and as a bonus, OPM Delhi declares war as well. All countries, and Khorasan, who I declared war on-the-go, are annexed by August 1647. In April 1648 I take out Persia, Georgia and Hausa, after which I attack Timurids, Kazakh and Qara Koyunlu, and later also Astrakhan. Basically I attack every single Sunni nation except the Mameluks and some Africans. In August 1651 there are only a few nations left out of the ones I attacked: OPM Hausa, OPM Persia and OPM Kazakh. Asia is now pretty much mine.
Meanwhile, I professionally decided not to spend a single unit to blockade the Bosporus while full well knowing that Thrace spawns massive rebel blobs. The result was often this, pro as…:
And my superior warfare skills resulted in one of my armies being stranded in the African jungles since I tried to take it away from Hausa territory the wrong way. I then had to get into a fight with Hausa again by declaring war on the Mameluks just so that I could get the troops back before attrition would kill them. Getting a new stack to central Africa would be massively complicated and take almost a year. Pro as…
I’m keeping the Mameluks around because I have a core in Cairo from a border dispute few years ago. I’m hoping that they’ll ally with other Sunni states so I get a free war against them too. Sadly though, passing of 1650 means that I no longer have the holy war CB. Luckily I can still “liberate” nations. Oh, and on 1st of Jan 1651, I’m no longer overextended.
Things start to become remotely serious in August 1651 when Burgundy, Aragon and Bourbonnais declare war. There are two fronts, one in Africa and the other in Iberia/France. Unfortunately, I don’t have that many troops to send around in Iberia. In Africa things go very well but of course, in February 1652 I lose a large battle against Burgundy because I just plain suck and obviously want to make my life even harder. 20 regiments are decimated to the last man. Pro as…
At least I’ve been killing loads Burgundians. Every time I crush 20 regiments, a new stack of 20 regiments shows up from thin air. With me having only approx. 50 regiments in Iberia, the war goes very slowly. Besides, I need to dismantle the colonial empires of both nations in this war. By August 1654 Aragon is reduced to an OPM and I capture all their colonial possessions.
Finally in March 1656 I’m done with Burgundians: They cede provinces in Africa, North America and France, however I did not notice that they also had colonized Greenland. I’ll take the rest in the next war then.
On the side I annex Chagatai and take 5 provinces from Sokoto in Africa.
After the success against Burgundians, in November 1656 it’s time to fight Castille again. Sweden, Armagnac and Byzantium join to help Castille. Immediately after declaring war I notice that this was not the smartest thing ever as I have no troops in place to attack South America where Castille has massive holdings and I just gained a border with them by taking the Aragonese colonies… I do not have a navy to block the Bosporus either, which means that the Castillians are free to cross it while all I have to oppose them with are 10 regiments of troops garrisoning Anatolia against rebels. Pro as…
At least it goes well in Iberia. Armagnac is annexed in January 1657 and Sweden accepts white peace, which means I can start shipping troops to the new world – troops that I should have deployed there before I started the war! Meanwhile, Holland (a New World resident) declares war with Prussia, Portugal, Hamburg and Shawnee. Only the Cornwall-occupied British are not fighting with me in the New World now.
I start to make plans so I have few enemies less. Byzatium cedes Thrace for peace and Portugal are happy to let go of two provinces in South America. Meanwhile, I lost half of my fleet in the Americas against Castillians – I just did not bother to look if they were occupying the same sea zone as I was. Pro as…
After removing Portugal from the war, it’s pretty simple. Slowly Holland is taken apart and Castille too. Of course, I cannot reach South America now but I take what I can. By February 1662 I’ve taken some provinces from Holland and Castille gves quite a few provinces in the Americas. Just look at that fleet, I’ll soon lose it, because I’m so pro.
I’m slowly starting to think that there’s no way to avoid a war with Muscowy soon. They are massing so many troops around my borders that it must mean an attack. I do some cleaning up beforehand, though – I annex Hausa and in August 1665 I attack Castille again, to take out their American holdings. In short, I now have some troops in place so I can actually do what I was planning on doing in the previous Castillian war. That’s pretty pro too. Sweden and Portugal join in to support Castille in a war that starts in August 1665.
The following day TPM France and OPM Aragon declare war with Lithuania. It must be due to the dark missionary.
This time I actually get something done in South America as I have 30 regiments around to crush those pesky Castillians. Of course, as I’m so pro, I don’t really need to check if the sea zone I’m moving to is occupied or not. I mean, what could go wrong?
Yeah. It’s not like I would have wanted to move more troops to South America anyway. Or defend my islands from hostiles and crush rebels there. At least I still have one fleet left, right?
Aragon is annexed in September 1667, France becomes an OPM and Lithuania cedes Georgia.
In October 1667 my pet project finally bears fruit as Greece revolts away from Muscowy. I had to separate Milan and Muscowy somehow, because Milan had warned me and if I want to fight Muscowy without Milan, they cannot share a common border. Thus, I sponsored nationalists who finally captured Macedonia.
Oh, remember when I said that I still had one fleet, even though I lost one to the Portuguese? Guess what?
Pro as… I now literally have no fleet, just two groups of 10 transports. So, I don’t really see any way I could continue this war as I cannot get troops moved around. Thus in September 1688 Castille cedes half of their provinces in South America and 2250 ducats, Portugal cedes 2050 ducats and some cores. At least I’ll have money to build few fleets now. I currently have almost 50 big ships and 20 transports in queue; I suppose I need to sail around in fleets of 100 big ships at least.
Suddenly I notice the CB-sign and find out that I have a dishonored call –CB on Sokoto. I have no idea where that came from, perhaps they are the defender of the Sunni faith and they did not support me in my defensive war against Aragon and France? Nevertheless, they must pay. In October 1699 I’ve annexed Oman and Sokoto has been turned into a TPM. Meanwhile, OPM Greece declares war…
As I’m so pro with cliffhangers too, I’ll leave you to ponder how the OPM Greece fares against Brunei.
World map in 1669.
Oh, and I hope that in your games you all at least can be bothered to look at the screen occasionally or use some higher brain functions other than the push butan –neuron so you won’t fare as terribly as I now did.
Probably next, after I've taken care of Greece. I need the time to build ships, so I could fight a land war for a change.
Pro as hmm... fear? Ford? Fox News? 
You're going to ace this WC!
Better face a few blobs than a gazillion minors in Europe
You're going to ace this WC!
Better face a few blobs than a gazillion minors in Europe
Chapter 7: True blue, 1669 – 1696.
This time, like a true professional...
OPM Greece, the heinous aggressor from the previous report, is annexed in January 1670. Meanwhile, I do some cleaning up in the Caribbean, reducing Creek to an OPM. The reason for picking on these small countries is that I’m just tidying up some loose ends in order to get into a war with Muscowy. In February 1672 I’m all set: I built 60 big ships for the colonies and 50 for Europe, just in case. In northern Anatolia, I have 50 regiments against 72 Muscowian, north of Persia 170 regiments are lined up against 28 Muscowy and in Asian steppes, 30 Brunei to 11 Muscowy regiments. Spies are sent to reduce stability and infiltrate the administration.
The plan is to stall Muscowy in Anatolia and take as much as I can from the steppes so I don’t need to get back there again. Unsurprisingly, the plan works: overwhelming numbers of superior troops, who would have thought? On occasion I lose 20-regiment stacks to Muscowy, I do not understand why but I suppose it’s all good.
Slowly but certainly I push forward from the former Persian territory. Once I drive away or destroy the large Muscowian stacks, I start advancing in Anatolia as well, capturing more provinces. However, Muscowy seems to be able to always find more troops from somewhere and at some point I have completely lost track on how many soldiers have already been slain.
Finally, in June 1674, it’s all over. Muscowy cedes quite a few provinces for peace. Even though I do not get all of the steppes, I capture quite a bit so that the future wars will be much less painful.
After the hassle with Muscowy I need some time to reduce WE. In June 1676 WE is at zero and since someone always has to pay, it’s Castille’s turn. Portugal and Sweden join in on the Castillian side.
After which I’m attacked by Burgundy, Ragusa, Scotland and Hungary. Sigh. Burgundians massacre my armies in France but for some extremely strange reason (after decimating 30 regiments of my troops and having no opposition left whatsoever) they decide to offer me white peace in January 1677. Huh?
Not complaining, I happily click accept. Meanwhile, I’m crushing the fleets of Portugal, Castille and Sweden in the new world. Brunei winning naval engagements, unthinkable! My goal is to drive Castille completely away from the colonies.
In 1679 Castille is done for and removed from the colonies, save from a small enclave in North America. After that, I focus on crushing Portugal and after landing 30 regiments, quickly make headway.
By the end of 1680, Portugal has been utterly humiliated and I gain a nice pile of provinces.
However, I’m not making much headway in Europe, am I? I really need to take on Milan at some point but I just don’t seem to be able to find a proper time for it. Too often I would have to take on both Milan and Bavaria (the second powerhouse in Europe), which is something I really don’t want to do yet. Besides, I need to build more troops for Europe.
September 1680. Brunei versus Muscowy, round 2. This time, Muscowy has arranged its armies nicely against mine so we’ll have plenty of decisive battles in the first months of the war. And the battles go rather nicely, except one…
By March 1681 Muscowy has no armies to speak of and it’s just a march-and-assault –routine for Brunei. Novgorod is reduced to an OPM and finally I capture most of the Asian steppes.
Still, Europe is pretty quiet. Everyone is happily sheltered by the Milanese Empire (who are also the HRE emperor and usually the defender of the Catholic faith when Bavaria aren't) and attacking anyone will immediately bring Milan into the war. Meanwhile, I keep picking on small non-catholic fry.
January 1684: Holland, Portugal, Shawnee, Hamburg, Bavaria.
This is a very straightforward war. Hamburg and Bavaria cannot reach me, Holland has a very small army and I have enough troops to steamroll Portugal once again. Holland has ages ago been driven out from Europe and is a new world resident.
Shawnee and Holland are reduced to an OPM status while Portugal cedes quite a few provinces for peace. The war is over in July 1685, after which I continue with Castille. In May 1686 Castille is finally ousted from the new world.
I’ve had trouble telling the difference between Swedish blue and Brunei blue, so in May 1686 it’s time to make it clearer. I attack Sweden, Poland, Finland and Corfu. I do not have that many troops around, and there’s the issue of 30-regiment strong army in Sweden…
After the Swedes lose their massive stack, the war is smooth sailing. But since Bavaria and Denmark have taken rest of the Swedish provinces, I can only get 60% warscore. I take the last Swedish possession in Greece and some Finnish provinces for peace. Corfu is annexed sometime along the way.
…after which, Muscowy versus Brunei, round 3, July 1689. Even though I’ve taken quite a few provinces from Muscowy, they can still field huge armies. But as in the previous war, Muscowy has set her armies nicely on the border, opposing mine. Thus, all the decisive battles are fought during the initial months of the war, and as you guess…
In July 1690 Muscowy is again reduced in size.
In Europe, Milan is still keeping the whole continent tangled in its web of guarantees that I don’t really want to start a war there right now. Hence the Quest for the New World continues, Brunei style: Britain, Cherokee, Scotland versus Brunei, February 1692.
Immediately OPM Brittany declares war as well, alone.
Cherokee and Brittany are no threat and are quickly annexed or reduced to OPMs, however there are quite a few British troops in the Americas. Of course I have more.
To get a good enough warscore, I also land in Ulster and the British mainland. However, moving troops here takes too long and eventually I have to settle for Ulster and one British province. Britain also cedes almost all of their colonial possessions: They cling to Barbados - which I completely forgot, I had troops around but just did not remember to attack - and two provinces surrounded by Incas.
Immediately after I’ve taken the Irish province from Britain, Ireland declares war. Soon, all their provinces are under siege.
Elsewhere, Castille is breaking apart and Galicia already declared independence. I must declare war or otherwise it will be more difficult to get the provinces from several OPMs whom I have no CB against. War is declared in October 1694 and Castille is joined by Norway, Sweden and Portugal. Battles of Västerbotten and Lenape decide the wars, rest is just mopping up.
Milan, my nemesis, is sticking its nose into my business in the new world. Luckily they do not take a single Portuguese province.
By the end of 1696 Ireland has been turned into an OPM, Norway as well, Sweden cedes most of Finland and some Swedish provinces and Portugal cedes their entire coastline, except the capital. I really don’t like ships.
Next time, Milan. I promise.
World by 1696.
This time, like a true professional...
OPM Greece, the heinous aggressor from the previous report, is annexed in January 1670. Meanwhile, I do some cleaning up in the Caribbean, reducing Creek to an OPM. The reason for picking on these small countries is that I’m just tidying up some loose ends in order to get into a war with Muscowy. In February 1672 I’m all set: I built 60 big ships for the colonies and 50 for Europe, just in case. In northern Anatolia, I have 50 regiments against 72 Muscowian, north of Persia 170 regiments are lined up against 28 Muscowy and in Asian steppes, 30 Brunei to 11 Muscowy regiments. Spies are sent to reduce stability and infiltrate the administration.
The plan is to stall Muscowy in Anatolia and take as much as I can from the steppes so I don’t need to get back there again. Unsurprisingly, the plan works: overwhelming numbers of superior troops, who would have thought? On occasion I lose 20-regiment stacks to Muscowy, I do not understand why but I suppose it’s all good.
Slowly but certainly I push forward from the former Persian territory. Once I drive away or destroy the large Muscowian stacks, I start advancing in Anatolia as well, capturing more provinces. However, Muscowy seems to be able to always find more troops from somewhere and at some point I have completely lost track on how many soldiers have already been slain.
Finally, in June 1674, it’s all over. Muscowy cedes quite a few provinces for peace. Even though I do not get all of the steppes, I capture quite a bit so that the future wars will be much less painful.
After the hassle with Muscowy I need some time to reduce WE. In June 1676 WE is at zero and since someone always has to pay, it’s Castille’s turn. Portugal and Sweden join in on the Castillian side.
After which I’m attacked by Burgundy, Ragusa, Scotland and Hungary. Sigh. Burgundians massacre my armies in France but for some extremely strange reason (after decimating 30 regiments of my troops and having no opposition left whatsoever) they decide to offer me white peace in January 1677. Huh?
Not complaining, I happily click accept. Meanwhile, I’m crushing the fleets of Portugal, Castille and Sweden in the new world. Brunei winning naval engagements, unthinkable! My goal is to drive Castille completely away from the colonies.
In 1679 Castille is done for and removed from the colonies, save from a small enclave in North America. After that, I focus on crushing Portugal and after landing 30 regiments, quickly make headway.
By the end of 1680, Portugal has been utterly humiliated and I gain a nice pile of provinces.
However, I’m not making much headway in Europe, am I? I really need to take on Milan at some point but I just don’t seem to be able to find a proper time for it. Too often I would have to take on both Milan and Bavaria (the second powerhouse in Europe), which is something I really don’t want to do yet. Besides, I need to build more troops for Europe.
September 1680. Brunei versus Muscowy, round 2. This time, Muscowy has arranged its armies nicely against mine so we’ll have plenty of decisive battles in the first months of the war. And the battles go rather nicely, except one…
By March 1681 Muscowy has no armies to speak of and it’s just a march-and-assault –routine for Brunei. Novgorod is reduced to an OPM and finally I capture most of the Asian steppes.
Still, Europe is pretty quiet. Everyone is happily sheltered by the Milanese Empire (who are also the HRE emperor and usually the defender of the Catholic faith when Bavaria aren't) and attacking anyone will immediately bring Milan into the war. Meanwhile, I keep picking on small non-catholic fry.
January 1684: Holland, Portugal, Shawnee, Hamburg, Bavaria.
This is a very straightforward war. Hamburg and Bavaria cannot reach me, Holland has a very small army and I have enough troops to steamroll Portugal once again. Holland has ages ago been driven out from Europe and is a new world resident.
Shawnee and Holland are reduced to an OPM status while Portugal cedes quite a few provinces for peace. The war is over in July 1685, after which I continue with Castille. In May 1686 Castille is finally ousted from the new world.
I’ve had trouble telling the difference between Swedish blue and Brunei blue, so in May 1686 it’s time to make it clearer. I attack Sweden, Poland, Finland and Corfu. I do not have that many troops around, and there’s the issue of 30-regiment strong army in Sweden…
After the Swedes lose their massive stack, the war is smooth sailing. But since Bavaria and Denmark have taken rest of the Swedish provinces, I can only get 60% warscore. I take the last Swedish possession in Greece and some Finnish provinces for peace. Corfu is annexed sometime along the way.
…after which, Muscowy versus Brunei, round 3, July 1689. Even though I’ve taken quite a few provinces from Muscowy, they can still field huge armies. But as in the previous war, Muscowy has set her armies nicely on the border, opposing mine. Thus, all the decisive battles are fought during the initial months of the war, and as you guess…
In July 1690 Muscowy is again reduced in size.
In Europe, Milan is still keeping the whole continent tangled in its web of guarantees that I don’t really want to start a war there right now. Hence the Quest for the New World continues, Brunei style: Britain, Cherokee, Scotland versus Brunei, February 1692.
Immediately OPM Brittany declares war as well, alone.
Cherokee and Brittany are no threat and are quickly annexed or reduced to OPMs, however there are quite a few British troops in the Americas. Of course I have more.
To get a good enough warscore, I also land in Ulster and the British mainland. However, moving troops here takes too long and eventually I have to settle for Ulster and one British province. Britain also cedes almost all of their colonial possessions: They cling to Barbados - which I completely forgot, I had troops around but just did not remember to attack - and two provinces surrounded by Incas.
Immediately after I’ve taken the Irish province from Britain, Ireland declares war. Soon, all their provinces are under siege.
Elsewhere, Castille is breaking apart and Galicia already declared independence. I must declare war or otherwise it will be more difficult to get the provinces from several OPMs whom I have no CB against. War is declared in October 1694 and Castille is joined by Norway, Sweden and Portugal. Battles of Västerbotten and Lenape decide the wars, rest is just mopping up.
Milan, my nemesis, is sticking its nose into my business in the new world. Luckily they do not take a single Portuguese province.
By the end of 1696 Ireland has been turned into an OPM, Norway as well, Sweden cedes most of Finland and some Swedish provinces and Portugal cedes their entire coastline, except the capital. I really don’t like ships.
Next time, Milan. I promise.
World by 1696.
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Oh, and sorry for the slow pace. There's (again) work and dancing that take most of my time at the moment.
Well at least once you get past Milan, everything should be smooth sailing. Of course, that means getting past Milan. . .
Whoops!
Sorry, I messed up linking the current world map. It's been fixed now.
JDMS: Milan is just a pain, but nothing I can't handle. I've been thinking of how to handle the problem of having no CB's but I have stability of 0 now - I can't raise it but for two stability I could switch to republican dictatorship, giving me the imperialism CB. As long as I don't get hit by comets, I should be fine.
And yes, the 2500+ infamy is nice. Of course, it means never being able to increase stability. I might have to try to decentralize in order to get more stability at some point.
Sorry, I messed up linking the current world map. It's been fixed now.
JDMS: Milan is just a pain, but nothing I can't handle. I've been thinking of how to handle the problem of having no CB's but I have stability of 0 now - I can't raise it but for two stability I could switch to republican dictatorship, giving me the imperialism CB. As long as I don't get hit by comets, I should be fine.
And yes, the 2500+ infamy is nice. Of course, it means never being able to increase stability. I might have to try to decentralize in order to get more stability at some point.
Chapter 8: It’s like that, 1696 – 1709.
…and that’s the way it is.
I’m still playing, albeit slowly. It’s sunny! Oh, and I forgot to save when I finished my last update, so I had to replay year 1696 again. Things played out similarly, except it took me one month longer this time. Thank Paradox for the autosave, I guess.
Immediately after 1696 I suddenly got a message that my stability had increased. This was alarming, as it was surely not supposed to happen. Glancing at the overview explained what was going on:
Counter overflow of sorts. After I got two levels of stability, I got another hilarious report: the next level of stability will be gained in the year 13958.
Incidentally, the year 13958 was next month. Time flies, I guess. I was wondering on what to do with this when in September 1700 I got the Best Event Ever, netting me +2 stability. Which means that the current situation represents the correct status quite well: I should have stability of 2, while I actually have 3. Close enough.
With this amusing distraction out of the way, it’s time get back to pillaging helpless countries. In March 1697 that means Cornwall, Scotland, Inca and Normandy. All the countries are quite tiny but I just want a foothold in the British Isles, to later attack GB properly.
The most dreadful enemy are forts. Scotland is covered in level 3 forts which is something my standard issue stack of 8 infantry and 2 cavalry cannot take. However, eventually they fall as I’m in no hurry.
In April 1698 Inca becomes an OPM, Scotland in May 1699 and finally in July 1700 Normandy and Cornwall become OPMs and I capture Paris. After which I find two provinces of Normandy in the west coast of North America, I have no clue how those provinces were colonized. It’s a facepalm-like moment but luckily it’s nothing drastic, I’ll just have to burn them later on.
As I still have a core in the capital of OPM Holland, I decide to clean North America up a bit more. Holland is joined by Portuga, Shawnee and Hamburg while Bavaria, the protector of Catholic faith, stays out. War starts in July 1700. However, the sorry remains of Portugal have very little to offer in terms of resistance as they never seem to recover from previous wars.
Just to make war more interesting, Flanders and Brunswick declare war in September 1700. However, Flanders falls to my new model army (which I built to siege forts but seems to work nicely in combat too).
Brunswick is the brown one on the right, next to Hamburg while Flanders is quite impressive light blue spot. After the initial engagement, war is smooth sailing. OPM Holland in the new world is annexed in September 1701, Mameluks are taken out and annexed in November 1701, Hamburg in November 1702 and Portugal cedes their COT in the new world along with the last coastal province in the same month.
After the Portuguese war is over, OPM Ireland declares war in December 1702 and is promptly annexed in June 1704. While Ireland is under siege, the battles in Flanders and Brunswick quiet down and provinces are captured. Brunswick becomes an OPM in March 1703 and Flanders cedes 3 provinces.
Since wars have been quieting down, I decide to take on some more countries. I declare war on GB in February 1703. As Britain only has small forts everywhere, it’s more or less straightforward just to roll on and capture everything. The only scary thing is the British main army, but it’s crushed in two battles of London.
On the sidelines, also Oldenburg declares war and is annexed. The province has been under siege for quite a while.
In June 1703 Britain is finished and they cede their remaining possessions in the new world with most of their French holdings.
After focusing on Europe for a while, I shift my attention to the east and attack Muscowy in June 1703. They still have some decent stacks around while I’m more thinly spread, however I have superior troops. Thus, I just push from south and stall for time in north while Russians desperately try to siege few provinces of mine. After few initial skirmishes, the Russians are routed and provinces captured. Pskov is annexed in November 1704 and Muscowy cedes 7 provinces one month later.
In December 1704 it’s time to despair, again. Europe is extremely well united against me. Everyone is in the merry little Milanese Empire and Bavaria is the protector of Catholic faith. United, they have almost half a million men arrayed against me, plus all the minors who are supporting them. Nevertheless, something needs to be done so I try to isolate them a bit. I declare war on Burgundy, Great Britain (protector of Protestant faith), Milan (Emperor), Scotland, Hungary, Ragusa and Luxembourg (warning). The idea is to reach white peace with Burgundy ASAP and take out the rest while fighting the main enemy, Milan. And…
*drumroll*
Milan does not join in. I can’t really blame them, they had WE of almost 14. Smart move, but it dooms the rest of the coalition.
Burgundy has a decent number of troops, but their largest army is in the colonies. Yes, that’s right, 20 regiments packed into tiny remote province in North America. Thanks to that, it’s pretty simple to pound on the hostiles. Against GB I just crush the small army they’ve managed to raise and assault province after province. Burgundy has forts and troops but I have too much more – I roll on from the north and south and they crumble shortly thereafter. Minors are taken on the side and I get more targets when OPMs Inca and Cornwall declare war.
Inca is annexed in August 1705, Cornwall in November, Scotland in December and in February 1706 Burgundy is removed from the new world and they cede 5 provinces in Europe. It’s over. The current power status is quite interesting, I have way over a million men. For some strange reason the armies of Milan and Bavaria are mainly cavalry.
This is going nowhere, don’t you think? And since I promised to attack Milan in this update, I suppose I have to do so. In February 1707 I declare war on Milan, Bohemia (vassal), Polots (Vassal), Holstein and Bavaria (defender of Catholic faith). Milan still has WE of 8.57, so timing is quite good. The goal is rather simple: Attack in France and push towards the Milanese capital. Block Bosporus (no by fleets but just by stacking massive armies there and crush any Milanese trying to cross. Get a white peace with Bavaria as soon as possible. Milan also has Caroline Infantry while I'm still rolling with Gustavian Infantry. Initial situation looks like below:
Things start out awfully well as I crush the Bavarians in the Battle of Lüneburg. Elsewhere the war advances very much as planned. Milanese storm the Balkans and assault several provinces. Soon Thrace is the only remaining Brunei province on the European side of the Balkans. In France, I do some hit and run –attacks, trying to tie down the Milanese stacks and reinforcements. Slowly, I gain ground. Some minors, such as Holstein, are annexed.
In August 1707 Cologne and Poland declare war on me. Cologne is an OPM and I have no border with Poland, so it’s a non-issue.
In September 1707, after several humiliating defeats and immediately after parking 60-regiment army in the Netherlands, Bavaria accepts peace, ceding Brabant. Now my life gets so much easier. Advance in France continues, albeit slowly. I do not want to risk my armies so I usually just advance, assault, cycle a fresh stack in, wait and reinforce, repeat. It’s not very interesting or innovative but it’s effective. There’s almost always at least an army or two ready to reinforce any stack if there is a counterattack. I really want to crush the enemy stacks and not allow them to reinforce & rebuild, hence my strategy.
However, the Milanese downfall results from their massive loss in the Battle of Thrace. After that, I’m able to mop up most of the Milanese armies in the Balkans and capture every province.
After the loss of the last largish Milanese stack in the West in August 1708 at the Battle of Parma, Milan is broken. Rest, as they say, is history.
War ends in June 1709, when Milan cedes 23 provinces for peace. Minors, such as Cologne and Holstein, have been annexed along the way. Good result for the first war. What follows next is the operation “kick him when he’s down”. I just need some proper way to get into war with Milan…
World in 1709.
Edit: I passed 3000 infamy! My standings with every nation deteriorate over 1000 points per year, they really must hate me.
…and that’s the way it is.
I’m still playing, albeit slowly. It’s sunny! Oh, and I forgot to save when I finished my last update, so I had to replay year 1696 again. Things played out similarly, except it took me one month longer this time. Thank Paradox for the autosave, I guess.
Immediately after 1696 I suddenly got a message that my stability had increased. This was alarming, as it was surely not supposed to happen. Glancing at the overview explained what was going on:
Counter overflow of sorts. After I got two levels of stability, I got another hilarious report: the next level of stability will be gained in the year 13958.
Incidentally, the year 13958 was next month. Time flies, I guess. I was wondering on what to do with this when in September 1700 I got the Best Event Ever, netting me +2 stability. Which means that the current situation represents the correct status quite well: I should have stability of 2, while I actually have 3. Close enough.
With this amusing distraction out of the way, it’s time get back to pillaging helpless countries. In March 1697 that means Cornwall, Scotland, Inca and Normandy. All the countries are quite tiny but I just want a foothold in the British Isles, to later attack GB properly.
The most dreadful enemy are forts. Scotland is covered in level 3 forts which is something my standard issue stack of 8 infantry and 2 cavalry cannot take. However, eventually they fall as I’m in no hurry.
In April 1698 Inca becomes an OPM, Scotland in May 1699 and finally in July 1700 Normandy and Cornwall become OPMs and I capture Paris. After which I find two provinces of Normandy in the west coast of North America, I have no clue how those provinces were colonized. It’s a facepalm-like moment but luckily it’s nothing drastic, I’ll just have to burn them later on.
As I still have a core in the capital of OPM Holland, I decide to clean North America up a bit more. Holland is joined by Portuga, Shawnee and Hamburg while Bavaria, the protector of Catholic faith, stays out. War starts in July 1700. However, the sorry remains of Portugal have very little to offer in terms of resistance as they never seem to recover from previous wars.
Just to make war more interesting, Flanders and Brunswick declare war in September 1700. However, Flanders falls to my new model army (which I built to siege forts but seems to work nicely in combat too).
Brunswick is the brown one on the right, next to Hamburg while Flanders is quite impressive light blue spot. After the initial engagement, war is smooth sailing. OPM Holland in the new world is annexed in September 1701, Mameluks are taken out and annexed in November 1701, Hamburg in November 1702 and Portugal cedes their COT in the new world along with the last coastal province in the same month.
After the Portuguese war is over, OPM Ireland declares war in December 1702 and is promptly annexed in June 1704. While Ireland is under siege, the battles in Flanders and Brunswick quiet down and provinces are captured. Brunswick becomes an OPM in March 1703 and Flanders cedes 3 provinces.
Since wars have been quieting down, I decide to take on some more countries. I declare war on GB in February 1703. As Britain only has small forts everywhere, it’s more or less straightforward just to roll on and capture everything. The only scary thing is the British main army, but it’s crushed in two battles of London.
On the sidelines, also Oldenburg declares war and is annexed. The province has been under siege for quite a while.
In June 1703 Britain is finished and they cede their remaining possessions in the new world with most of their French holdings.
After focusing on Europe for a while, I shift my attention to the east and attack Muscowy in June 1703. They still have some decent stacks around while I’m more thinly spread, however I have superior troops. Thus, I just push from south and stall for time in north while Russians desperately try to siege few provinces of mine. After few initial skirmishes, the Russians are routed and provinces captured. Pskov is annexed in November 1704 and Muscowy cedes 7 provinces one month later.
In December 1704 it’s time to despair, again. Europe is extremely well united against me. Everyone is in the merry little Milanese Empire and Bavaria is the protector of Catholic faith. United, they have almost half a million men arrayed against me, plus all the minors who are supporting them. Nevertheless, something needs to be done so I try to isolate them a bit. I declare war on Burgundy, Great Britain (protector of Protestant faith), Milan (Emperor), Scotland, Hungary, Ragusa and Luxembourg (warning). The idea is to reach white peace with Burgundy ASAP and take out the rest while fighting the main enemy, Milan. And…
*drumroll*
Milan does not join in. I can’t really blame them, they had WE of almost 14. Smart move, but it dooms the rest of the coalition.
Burgundy has a decent number of troops, but their largest army is in the colonies. Yes, that’s right, 20 regiments packed into tiny remote province in North America. Thanks to that, it’s pretty simple to pound on the hostiles. Against GB I just crush the small army they’ve managed to raise and assault province after province. Burgundy has forts and troops but I have too much more – I roll on from the north and south and they crumble shortly thereafter. Minors are taken on the side and I get more targets when OPMs Inca and Cornwall declare war.
Inca is annexed in August 1705, Cornwall in November, Scotland in December and in February 1706 Burgundy is removed from the new world and they cede 5 provinces in Europe. It’s over. The current power status is quite interesting, I have way over a million men. For some strange reason the armies of Milan and Bavaria are mainly cavalry.
This is going nowhere, don’t you think? And since I promised to attack Milan in this update, I suppose I have to do so. In February 1707 I declare war on Milan, Bohemia (vassal), Polots (Vassal), Holstein and Bavaria (defender of Catholic faith). Milan still has WE of 8.57, so timing is quite good. The goal is rather simple: Attack in France and push towards the Milanese capital. Block Bosporus (no by fleets but just by stacking massive armies there and crush any Milanese trying to cross. Get a white peace with Bavaria as soon as possible. Milan also has Caroline Infantry while I'm still rolling with Gustavian Infantry. Initial situation looks like below:
Things start out awfully well as I crush the Bavarians in the Battle of Lüneburg. Elsewhere the war advances very much as planned. Milanese storm the Balkans and assault several provinces. Soon Thrace is the only remaining Brunei province on the European side of the Balkans. In France, I do some hit and run –attacks, trying to tie down the Milanese stacks and reinforcements. Slowly, I gain ground. Some minors, such as Holstein, are annexed.
In August 1707 Cologne and Poland declare war on me. Cologne is an OPM and I have no border with Poland, so it’s a non-issue.
In September 1707, after several humiliating defeats and immediately after parking 60-regiment army in the Netherlands, Bavaria accepts peace, ceding Brabant. Now my life gets so much easier. Advance in France continues, albeit slowly. I do not want to risk my armies so I usually just advance, assault, cycle a fresh stack in, wait and reinforce, repeat. It’s not very interesting or innovative but it’s effective. There’s almost always at least an army or two ready to reinforce any stack if there is a counterattack. I really want to crush the enemy stacks and not allow them to reinforce & rebuild, hence my strategy.
However, the Milanese downfall results from their massive loss in the Battle of Thrace. After that, I’m able to mop up most of the Milanese armies in the Balkans and capture every province.
After the loss of the last largish Milanese stack in the West in August 1708 at the Battle of Parma, Milan is broken. Rest, as they say, is history.
War ends in June 1709, when Milan cedes 23 provinces for peace. Minors, such as Cologne and Holstein, have been annexed along the way. Good result for the first war. What follows next is the operation “kick him when he’s down”. I just need some proper way to get into war with Milan…
World in 1709.
Edit: I passed 3000 infamy! My standings with every nation deteriorate over 1000 points per year, they really must hate me.
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