Eagle Fly Free - Muscovite AAR

On 5th January, a day after his coronation, Czar Alexei I Rurik met the most important men in Russia (after him, of course) - grand prince of Smolensk Ivan Putyatin, the leader of nobles ready to oppose everything that would damage the ancient rights of aristocrats, Patriarch of Moscow Filaret Drozdov, minister of domestic affairs and duke of Poltava Grigori Pavlov, foreign minister Vladimir Petrovic and field general Nikita Surkov to summarize the status of the nation and first steps that have to be taken.



The Muscovite economy is far from industrialization - with no capitalists and 15% literacy it will took long before we see first factories pouring smoke into the air.

Hopefully I will not have problems with money, at the moment we have a small surplus but I have to wait some time to see, where the balance is.

Politics in 1836. The most important part of the screen is the southeastern corner with two decisions I am going to achieve: formation of Mother Russia and the change of the academia.


Moscow has been the center of artists, galleries and many monuments since 16th century so the cultural inventions will be achieved very quickly (in other words, curse you Avantgarde Intelligentsia!).

The Czardom is quite populous: we have almost 5M people. The NFs won't be a problem.


Muscovy has at the beginning three standing armies of 45,000 men. I also order another 15,000 to be build. Sadly, we have no general.

The Great Powers of the world, hopefully we will enter this club soon.


The map of the world in 1836.



Now it is the time to have a look on our neighbors:
To the north is the Baltic Confederacy, led by the Scandinavian Empire. The other most important members are Pskov and Novgorod - these two have to be conquered or SoIed. Scandinavia is the no.2 GP of the world most of the time, but because of their distracted borders, with enough power they can be taken down.
To the west are the Siberian steppes ready for colonization but the nasty Novgorodians are blocking us from doing so. One more reason to take them down.
In the southeast, the Khivans dwell. They have the mark of When-we-find-some-spare-infamy-we-will-conquer-you.
If you look to the west, you will see the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The only real problem with them is that Bohemia likes meddling with their activities and she does not mind on which side she stands.
And finally, in the south are the remnants of the once mighty Ottoman Empire. The Sultans of Constantinople still claim to be one of the world's mightiest countries, but the civil war in the beginning of this century brought them to their knees and they lost their control of many territories.
More importantly, the successor states- Astrakhan, Moldova, Crimea, Azerbaijan are still tight to their former overlord . The entire coalition will probably be tough to crack...but only time will tell.

Technology limits us to one National Focus - I use it to encourage capitalists in Moscow.
I also set my research on Rights of Man to use my +30% to cultural tech.

After many hours of discussion, the plan was made. The war is inevitable. Without it, Muscowy would be outshone by other, more competitive countries. If we want to become one of the world powers, we have to show that we are not weak. That the imperial blood flows through the rulers of Moscow.

As you can see, I have many claims on my neighbors:


The first war is going to be waged against - Crimea. The Tartars are weak and there is no doubt that soon someone conquers them or SoI them (they are allied to Ottomans but not in sphere).
We will have to face the Turks but what prize would it be without risk?

I send my armies to the position - 1st Army to Tsaritsyn to face everything Astrakhan throws at us, 2nd Army to Orel and 3rd Army to Tambov - these two will advance to Crimea.
Crimeans can field about 18,000 and Astrakhan 12,000 men. I did not check the Ottoman numbers because I believe that they won't show in the theatre.
And then I unpaused the game.

1st January: Dual Monarchy declares war against Madurai
5th January: Dual Monarchy white-peaces with Madurai
6th January: Aragon declares war against Durrani Empire
7th January: Ottoman Empire declares war against Croatia - that is great because they will be distracted and hopefully they will not join our war.
5th February: Scandinavia declares war against Jodhpur
17th February: Dual Monarchy declares war against Mali
2nd March: Khiva offers alliance, I accept it. Maybe it will be useful?

On 14th April are the armies already in position and I decide to attack Crimea. But I will not reclaim lost cores, no. That would take too long. I am going to annex them...


Khiva, of course, desert us. Good for me.
And also, Ottomans betray Crimea and Astrakhan honors the alliance! That is the best possibility!

18th April: 3rd Army advances to Kursk, where they defeat small 3,000 garrison.
Here you can see the initial front:


We begin our slow advance without any resistance.
26th May: 15,000 Crimeans show themselves in Poltava. After 5 days, their numbers grow to 21,000.
Kursk falls in June, meanwhile our reinforcement training is completed. New soldiers are sent to the front.

2nd June: Scandinavia annexes Jodhpur, Ottomans add Dalmatia as a war goal.
In August Zarevka falls and I decide to challenge 9,000 Astrakhans in the city itself.


(in modern books about warfare is this called the 'Muscovite maneuver', because the Astrakhan forces follow our flee towards Zarevka:


We manage to outmaneuver them (because their army has cannons - fools) and thanks to good shortcuts our nameless general knows (he was born in Zarevka), we manage to get to the Astrakhan 3 days before the enemies show. They are mustered.

9th September: Scandinavia attacks Polish Commonwealth
24th September: Two of many wars begin. The 19th century was the bloodiest era in human history. Ever.


Here is the situation in November of 1836:

(The Crimean army has now 24,000 men. But they are just standing there. Maybe it is a part of some secret plan?)

10th December: Ottoman Empire wins their war. Croatia got butchered.
24th December: Christmas! followed by 1st January: New Year
7th January: Ottomans declares war against Iraq (is the Sultan compensating for something?)
8th January: Myanmar declares war against Ayutthaya
9th January: Taiping declares war against Dai Nam
17th January: Chagatai attacks Tibet
18th January: Bengal attacks Mughals
25th January:

I said that!

27th January: Sokoto declares war against Kanem Bornu
29th January: Vinland attacks Seven Republics
5th March: Luhansk falls, the Crimean spectators advance to Kramatorsk to see the front line
29th March: Moldavia attacks Poland-Lithuania. Yes, destroy them!
9th April: Hungary attacks Croatia because Croatia was not smashed enough.
8th May: Panjab attacks Tibet. It is boooring.
Theatre in May, 1837:


I have taken Yekaterinodar from Astrakhan in separate peace deal. Their annexation would cost 10BB but because I play with BB tweak, the Infamy actually rises during war and I would get over the limit.
5th June: Crimean Sultan decides that someone should say to Baqi that the 24K he is leading are actually soldiers. It is followed by this:


I finally defeat them in Simferopol.

The problems with money begun to be painful in this moment. At first I tried to raise taxes and tariffs more and more but when I reached 100%, it could not be pushed forward. Also the people begun to make less and less money so here is the advice:
When you are short on income, do not raise taxes. Try to lower them and people will actually give you more. Someone should tell this to our government.

I also cut the National Stockpile to 25% because from now it will be just Veni-Vidi-Vici.

6th July: Someone declares war against someone
20th July: Arabia annexes Al Haasa
25th July: Arabia attacks Abu Dhabi. Soon they will be the first country on the world. Alphabetically.
6th August: Sokoto beats Kanem Bornu. Poor clubmen.
11th September: We figure out that some Man has certain Rights. We begin to think about Private Banks.
5th October: Aragon declares a white peace with Afghanistan when the king sees that his country has no transport ships.
16th December: Travancore peaces with Vijaynagar
13th January: Ottomans gain Mosul from Iraq
25th January: Hungary annexes Slavonia from Croatia
5th February: Bengal gains North Bengal and three Bengal tigers
11th April: Madurai annexed by Travancore
5th May: Bohemia signs Status Quo with Scandinavia
2nd June: Chagatai beats Tibet and Poland acquires Budjak
4th August: Burmese-Siamese war ends in White Peace
21th August: Plantagenia acquires Basse Valoisie
21st September sees Persian attack on Durrani
9t November: Planatagenia attacks Vinland


19th November:

BigBadBob said:

Veery interesting. I'll be following this.

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Kinniken said:

So will I

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Beamed said:

This is an awesome AAR and requires more updates!

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Thanks for your support and motivation!

At first I want to say that I will not post new wars in the world (except the important ones) - I will just post the results.


We ended with the annexation of Crimea, so an overview follows:
Our infamy stops at 16.50 and now begins falling by 0.15 per month.

At first a surprise - the conquest of Crimea did wonders to our standing in the world!


Our population went to almost 7M but the Russian population still did not cross 5M.


Here is our new stabilized budget. The national stockpile payment will slowly increase during this update.


We also gained a lot of coal provinces, but on the other hand all gained states are colonial so my first move will be setting Bureaucrat promotion NF to Rostov.

On 2nd January 1839 I decide that the lazy capitalists will not be able to kick my economy so I change my ruling party to Panslavists. Taxes are set to 25/25/25.
I also order Luxury Furniture factory in Moscow and set a NF to craftsmen there.


In February


so I use my entire influence to Novgorod. The diplomatic war with Scandinavia begins.
The trick is that I only need to acquire/SoI Muscovite and Novgorodian cores so after I manage to get Pskov and Novgorod to SoI, I will form Mother Russia.

5th March: Travancore gains Cuttack
22nd March: I enter Military Alliance with Bohemia - this could be helpful. I also order another 15K infantry to build.
25th March: Shun gains Hunan and Shinan
18th April: Austria DoWs Venice. Both Bohemia (on Austrian side) and Aragon (on Venetian) join.
11th May: Panjab annexes Tibet
20th May: I manage to get cordial relations with Novgorod
18th August: Persia gains Farrah from Afghanistan
9th October: Ethiopia annexes Yemen
2nd November: I finish the research of Private Banks and notice that MUscovy does not have Freedom of Trade. Something has to be done about it.
7th December: Scandinavia annexes Bikaner

17th January 1840: Look at this strange peace deal:

It is stranger now?


And when we are in funny screenshots:


1st March sees Aragon ceases to be a GP. Bengal takes the place.
16th March: I ally with Georgia
28th April: I have enough craftsmen in Moskau, I set the craftsmen NF to Kursk. I begin building cement factories in Kursk and Moscow.
6th May: Japan conquers Luzon from Tungning
6th June: The strange peace deals continue - Bohemia gains Sardinia+Corsica. She does not have any ports!
3rd September: War between Gran Colombia and Planatgenia ends in WP
9th September: Pskov enters our SoI. In Novgorod we are constantly banned, expelled, so I send my influence to Madagascar.
23rd October: Persia gains Armenian Azerbaijan - surprisingly from Armenia
10th November: Dual Monarchy gains Madras from Travancore
22nd January of 1841 and Manchu WPs with Chagatai
1st May: I send a botanical expedition to Boplu
11th May: I am now friendly with Novgorod
21st May: Arabia finally annexes Abu Dhabi
27th June: Factories are completed and I try to encourage clerks
11th August:


1st September: I am banned in Novgorod. Again.
29th September: I complete the Freedom of Trade. My income skyrockets. I begin researching the Experimental Railroad.
1st November: I begin the construction of Fabric factory in Moscow
3rd December: I order Small Arms factory in Bransk and set NF there
8th December: Slovaks get annexed to Hungary
28th December: A dream has not come true...


1st January of 1842: Our Infamy reaches something around 14.00 so I


I will use two armies here. One of them is my good old entire cavalry force.

23rd February: Amazonie annexes Pará from Guyana
26th April: We discover the Khivan 12K army, Ottomans conquer Ionian Isles. Poor Venice.
1st June: The first and sole battle of this war

2nd August: Spain WPs with Hedjaz. Five days later Qinqiu overcomes Spain and becomes GP.
14th August: Scandinavia continues its Indian tour and annexes Jaisalmer
4th November: Hyderabad seriously beats Vijaynagar
31st March of 1843: I move our NF to Cherson to encourage bureaucrats - we use both NFs now for them
10th April: Myanmar gains Changtang (Tibet) from Panjab
21st April:

Haramir said:

Great!

I'll tried this mod

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This mod really changes the entire immersion from V2.

Communitarian! said:

Privyet, moi droog. This looks awesome - will the Rurikid dynasty have any hope of uniting Russia in this fractured timeline? Well, it's off to a pretty good start, so I'll gladly cast my two rublei in with 'em. Great AAR so far - and you had me sold when I noticed your may 8th text. Novgorod next, or Khiva?

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Who knows what will happen to Alexei?

Omen said:

Awesome. I love this mod and am always happy to see an AAR set in this world. Besides becoming Russia, do you have further plans in Europe, or are you setting your sights on Asia, or perhaps Africa?

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I will try to get to Kamchatka and Samarkand and in Europe - as far as will be possible

Alexspeed said:

Great, another Divergences AAR, i shall add it to the list in my contest thread!

Thank you also for using my MIP!

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I thank you!

After the defeat at Aqtobe, the remnants of the Khivan army retreated to the capital. The Sultan's family managed to escape to Persia but Sultan Ulugh Muhammad remained in his fortress - heavily fortified and ready to resist siege. When the general Vorontsov arrived at the city gates, he ordered heavy artillery barrage. When his cannons destroyed the outer walls, soldiers advanced to the city. It was followed by large pillaging, looting and destruction of many buildings like the Great Khivan Mosque.
After a month of sieging, general ordered to take the fortress by force.
The Sultan and the remaining loyal nobles were executed and their riches were captured.
Oleg Vorontsov was awarded for the conquest and became the Prince of the Khivan March.


The painting commemorating the capture of Khiva by Muscovite troops by Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin.


23th April, 1843
The Citadel of Khwarezm, Throne Hall

Prince Vorontsov and Grand Prince Putyatin were sitting at the table and debating about the situation in Moscow but the door suddenly opened and the final guest, marshal Nikita Surkov came in.

These three Russians decided to meet here because they were worried.
Things were turning worse and worse. It all begun when Scandinavia forced Boris II to cede the northeast territories. As a result, many local nobles fled to the south and the aristocracy was now full of almost-poor foreigners. Mikhail was not successful as well and the nobles hoped that the things will change with Alexei.
It actually happened but not in the way the liked it - at first he opened state-controlled trade routes to the western Europe through the Black Sea. Then he allowed serfs to buy out their freedom. And then, in March 1940, he married Jana of Bohemia instead of some Russian noble's daughter.
She entered Moscow with many advisors and educated men and Alexei began to reform his court. The old High Court - created by the Patriarch and 8 men of noble birth - that worked for almost 300 years as a guide of His Majesty was abolished and replaced by something called 'Ministry'. What's worse, the new ministers were mostly Czechs and even Germans and the Church of Russia was not even asked to be part of the government.

With the death of marshal Zukov in 1842, Surkov became the leader of the Muscovite army and the forces of the Tsardom were finally under direct control of the nobles.
He entered the room and sat down. "We have to kill the Tsaritsa," he said.

NezzeOne said:

Very nice! Muscovy is one of my favorite nations, and it's nice to see an AAR of it. I look forward to seeing your future conflict with Scandinavia/Novgorod :3

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Nikolai said:

I absolutely LOVE this mod, both to play and to read about. Go, go Muscovy!

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Thanks for your replies! Seeing that someone actually read this is great feeling.