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Alex Borhild

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May 18, 2005
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A Catholic Empire

A Catholic Empire
A Spanish AAR​


Introduction:

Hello, readers!
In the last few months, after rediscovering HOI2, I've decided to return to (continue to attempt) writing AARs. Seeing as I have yet to finish one, hopefully I'm not trying to take on too much at once.
And so, my second attempt at a Vicky AAR will be with Spain.

Spain, of course, is hardly at the apex of its power in 1836 - at the moment, the seas very much belong to Britain, and indeed they have essentially since 1805 and the Battle of Trafalgar. Spain is currently a second-rank power, being not quite powerful, industrious, or prestigious enough to merit being considered a Great Power by the nations of the world, but it's somewhat close - becoming a Great Power is within reach, certainly (barring any exceptionally boneheaded mistakes, and at least it's a better chance than some, if not most, countries have).

I make no promises about there being a consistent format, but the bulk of my updates will more than likely be in 'history book' or 'gameplay' format. Maybe.

The game is being played as follows:
Version: 1.04
Mods: None
Difficulty/AI Aggression: Normal/Normal
 
Last edited:
Chapter I: The Carlist War (1836-1840)

SpainDiplomacyStart.jpg

Spanish diplomatic relations on 1 Jan 1836. The country is currently ruled by Her Majesty the Queen Regent Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, who is a sister of Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies.

SpainPopulationPoliticsStart.jpg

The Population and Politics of Spain as of 1 January 1836

StatesCaribbeanStart.jpg

The Caribbean, January 1836

FarEastStart.jpg

The East Indies, January 1836



Spain had already been embroiled in the Carlist War for over two years by the time 1836 began. One of the first actions of 1836 was to detach the Royal Guard cavalry division from the Army of the North (Spanish: Ejército Cristino del Norte) encamped near Madrid and assign it to an independent corps, the presumption being that its speed would allow it to quickly engage the Carlists while reinforcements could march from Madrid to where-ever they were needed. The government, with the grudging support of the Cortes, raised tariffs and taxes “for the duration of the emergency”. The next day, several orders were issued- the first banned the export of military supplies (mainly small arms and preserved foods) until they had reached levels sufficient to create four new infantry divisions, while the second resulted in the importation of sulfur and cotton.

SpainTechStart.jpg

Spanish technology, January 1, 1836. Also titled: Hm, what should I research first?

Unfortunately, due to the state of communications at the time, the Mendizabal government in Madrid would not learn for months of the Moro rebellion in the Captaincy General of the Philippines.

All Spanish claims to the contrary, Mindanao, the second largest island in the archipelago, had never been brought completely under Spanish control. In fact, the authority of the Spanish governor-general was not widely recognized over the island outside of the cities of Zamboanga and Cagayan and an area of the coast between the two cities, while the Sultanates of Sulu and Maguindanao competed with the Spanish for influence on the island of Mindanao and several of the nearby islands.

It was believed by the Spanish colonial government of the time that the Sultanate of Maguindanao was responsible for inciting the rebellion, though unfortunately no records survive to verify or dispel this belief. Regardless, what is known is that Spain lost control of its territories on the island in mid-July 1836 after Muslim warriors took Zamboanga and Cagayan, with Muslim warriors entering the latter on July 13, 1836, the date usually reckoned as the end of Spanish authority on Mindanao.

Meanwhile, in early February 1836 there were rebellions in Puerto Rico and Havana, with almost two weeks passing between the first rebellion on Puerto Rico and the first rebellion near Havana. Some historians have speculated that there may have been some degree of collaboration between the rebel leaders, but records corroborating this hypothesis have yet to surface as of this writing. Regardless, there are records that these rebels supported the Carlist cause, but no record survives of how this was regarded in the Carlist encampments in Navarre and the Basque Country. Once the news of the Cuban and Puerto Rican rebellions reached Spain, an infantry division of the Royal Guard was ordered to Seville, where it finished boarding transports on May 8, 1836 with orders to restore the West Indies to Spanish rule. In the days following the Royal Guard's departure for the West Indies, the Spanish government lost control of Havana and Puerto Rico to the rebels on May 9 and May 13 respectively. On May 30 the Carlists attacked Valencia, and the Royal Guard cavalry took slightly over a month to ride to Valencia, engaging the Carlist forces near Valencia on July 4.

On June 24, the Royal Guard infantry division arrived in Camaguey, Cuba, but it was defeated by the rebels after five days of fighting.

Reinforcements for the cavalry of the Royal Guard arrived in Valencia on July 13, and the Carlists were defeated in the Battle of Valencia on August 2.

On September 22, Carlist forces attacked the Army of the North encamped near Madrid. The Carlists began occupying Leon on October 15. The Royal Guard cavalry division returned to Madrid on October 17, flanking the Carlist forces and causing them to surrender after the Battle of Madrid had been raging for a month.

On October 20, a revolt broke out in Manilla, the capital of the Phillipines. The Royal Guard infantry division attacked rebel forces in Cuba near Camaguey on November 25, the same day that the Royal Guard cavalry division launched an assault on the Carlists near Leon. While the Second Battle of Camaguey resulted in a defeat for the Royal Guard infantry after a month and three days of fighting, the Carlists were defeated near Leon on January 15, 1837. The Royal Guard infantry division was defeated by the rebels in early Februrary near Santiago de Cuba and retreated to transports offshore.

Cuban_strategy.jpg

11 Feb 1837: Spanish forces under General Latre begin landings near Havana

On February 20, 1837, the first Filipino infantry division entered service. At the beginning of 1836 there had been no Spanish military forces in the Phillipines, but after the news reached Madrid of the rebellions in Mindanao orders and supplies were sent to Nueva Castilla (as the Spanish called Luzon, the largest island of the archipelago) and some 70,000 Filipino farmers recieved a crash course in drill, modern small arms, and Spanish.

On February 22, a decree by the Prime Minister of Spain Juan Álvarez Mendizabál came into effect confiscating land from monasteries and making it available for sale with the intent of helping the middle class and contributing to the national finances. Unfortunately, due to various factors, most of the land was instead purchased by wealthy landowners who already owned large amounts of land, while the government still received a nice windfall.

On March 20, the 1st Filipino Infantry entered Manilla. Fighting broke out near Valencia on April 7, and after 12 days of fighting the Carlists were defeated. On April 24 the Carlists assaulted Pampalona and on April 27 the Carlists attacked Madrid again. On May 5 Manilla was once more brought back under Spanish control. The Royal Guard cavalry arrived in Pampalona on May 25 and two days later the Carlist assault on Madrid was repulsed after a month of fighting.

On June 5 the 1st Filipino Infantry Division arrived in Leyte, but they were defeated by rebels on July 8.
The infantry of the Royal Guard arrived in Camaguey on July 11. On July 16, the Carlist assault on Pamplona was repulsed.
The Ministry of War began distributing documents on July 23 recommending various measures to increase morale, and thus combat effectiveness, of Spanish soldiers. This would be noted as greatly aiding Liberal forces in their defeat of the Carlist rebels.​

Over the course of August and September fighting in the Phillipines resulted in the 1st Filipino Infantry Division scattering after they had been surrounded by enemy forces. Serrano managed to escape the scene of his defeat and reported to the governor-general in the highlands of Luzon, who had been responsible for ordering him into what ended up being a rebel trap that caused the surrender of several thousand Filipino soldiers and a few hundred Spanish officers. The Battle of Leyte would later be considered the worst defeat of Liberal Spanish forces in the Carlist War and the concurrent Phillipine Rebellion.

Philippines_map.jpg

Map of the Philippines. The yellow area represents the approximate area of the Sultanate of Maguindanao, while the purple area represents the approximate area ruled by the Sultanate of Sulu. Significant towns are marked.

In September, the Carlists attempted assaults on Camaguey and Valencia but were soundly defeated by Liberal forces, with the third battle of Camaguey and the days after resulting in.the last stand of the Cuban rebels. On October 15 Camaguey and central Cuba returned to Spanish government control.

Little of consequence occurred during November and early December 1837. December 11 saw the first distribution of a short paper commissioned by the Ministry of War regarding steps to take to improve strategic mobility and organization of troops in a battle. This had the immediate effects of enabling Spanish troops to cover more ground in a shorter time frame, as well as increasing supply consumption. On December 26, 1837, the 2nd Filipino Infantry Division finished training and was ordered under Serrano to return Manilla to Spanish control.

Philippines_rebels.jpg

Spanish-led Filipino infantry begin to march towards Manila

In mid-February 1838 the last vestiges of rebel control were eliminated from Manila and Cuba. The Royal Guard infantry division that had defeated the rebellion in Cuba was loaded onto transports and launched an assault on Puerto Rico, with the Battle of San Juan (April 28 to May 1, 1838) resulting in a government victory over the rebels. The Carlists launched another assault on Madrid on April 27, but were defeated after nearly a month of sporadic fighting.

In the Phillipines, rebels were defeated near Manila on May 16, while back in Spain the 1st Division of Dragoons finished training on May 22.

Over the course of June 1838, the 2nd Filipino Infantry Division secured the southern areas of Luzon and the island of Leyte, returning them to Spanish government control, but it was found that insufficient shipping was available to allow for an assault on Mindanao, so a flotilla of transport ships escorted by the 40-gun frigate Santa Sabina was dispatched to the Philippines, finally arriving in early October.

In early August Puerto Rico returned to government control and the Royal Guard infantry division was moved to Havana. August saw Carlist assaults on Leon and Seville, though they were finally defeated after soldiers of the Army of the North and the Royal Guard cavalry arrived on the scene.

In early November the 2nd Filipino Infantry Division under Serrano launched an assault on Mindanao. The numerical and organizational superiority of the Spanish-led Filipino troops over the Moro irregulars was telling, with the Spanish only taking three days (November 3-6 1838) to defeat the Moro insurgents. Serrano considered marching on the Sultanate of Maguindanao, but he was dissuaded from this course of action by the governor-general, who was concerned about the possibility of causing other Moro uprisings on the island by attacking a Muslim state. Ultimately, the authority of the governor-general became recognized over the majority of the island, with the exception of Maguindanao. In mid-December 1838 the 2nd Filipino Infantry Division was redeployed to Manila, the administrative capital of the Spanish East Indies.
On January 7, 1839 the Convention of Vergara brought an end to the Carlist War, resulting in a Liberal victory. The remainder of 1839 was, for the most part, spent recovering from the war. The Royal Guard infantry were brought back to Spain from Cuba in April and on July 5 the French government indicated that it would guarantee the independence of Spain. On November 2 the campaigns for the next election of the legislature began.

The final event of any significance of 1839 was the development, in late November 1839, of muzzle-loaded percussion-action rifles. Work to convert existing flintlocks in service began immediately, with the Royal Guard infantry being some of the first troops to be issued the new rifles.

-----------------

For some reason, not all of the screenshots I took were working when I tried to open them in GIMP. Also, now that I've finally posted this much, I suppose this means I should play farther in the game so I can write the next update.

Next update: I will attempt to summarize what was going on in places that weren't Spain, the Spanish West Indies, or the Spanish East Indies during the 1836-1840 time period.
 
Spain, always an interesting nation in Vicky to play! And it looks ever more interesting with the level of rebel activities in your colonies!

I'm subscribed! :cool:
 
Alex Borhild: ...Ultimately, the authority of the governor-general became recognized over the majority of the island, with the exception of Maguindanao.

that seems to be a fairly extensive portion of the Philippines ! ! ;)

excellent start ! ! :D

I'm IN ! !
:cool:
 
Ghostwriter and volksmarschall: Thanks!

Chapter II: The World, 1836-1840​

While the Spanish Government was primarily occupied with the Carlist War and the Colonial Rebellions (1836-1839), the rest of the world was not exactly uneventful. Some have proposed the state of communications at this time or the lack of bearing (as perceived by ministers of the cabinet) on the internal conflict in Spain and its colonies as explanations for the predominant Spanish position of neutrality during these years.

1836, unfortunately, was not full of notable events. On February 24 the French government expressed its intention to finish the conquest of Algeria. The Arc de Triomphe opened in Paris on July 2. In the United States, the Democrats under Martin van Buren won the presidential election in November. As the end of 1836 approached, in late December representatives from Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, and France met to negotiate the Treaty of London. The Netherlands recognized Belgian independence, Britain and France signed the Treaty of London, while the Austrian and Prussian governments abstained from signing.

1837 brought news of a smoking ban in Austria and internal insurrection in the Federal Republic of Central America. On March 19, Texas signed the humiliating Treaty of Velasco with Mexico, ceding most of the territory that had been claimed by the Republic of Texas. The young republic was now surrounded and landlocked, with its capital now, by treaty, located at Austin, a small town of little account except for its being re-named for the "Father of Texas". Texas was now, it was widely thought, largely dependent on the whim of its much larger neighbors Mexico and the United States in order to maintain its independence. On April 5, Spain officially recognized the independence of Mexico. On April 8, France defeated the last Algerian resistance, taking its leader, one Abd al-Qadir, prisoner. On April 19 Great Britain went to war with Panjab. Russia declared war on Georgia on October 8. On November 28, Victoria became Queen of Great Britain and her uncle Ernst August, due to Salic law being the law of inheritance, became the King of Hanover. On December 8 the new King of Hanover caused controversy in the German states when he dismissed seven professors from the University of Goettingen for protesting against any change to the Hanoverian constitution and refusing to swear an oath of loyalty to the King.
On December 17, Russia annexed Georgia.

In early February 1838, Egyptian attempts to gain influence in Syria at the expense of the Ottoman Empire led to "the Second Oriental Crisis" as it became known, causing the Ottomans to declare war on Egypt. That led to full British and Prussian diplomatic support for the Sublime Porte and an military alliance between Austria and the Ottomans. France instead allied with Egypt.

In early July 1839, a trade dispute between the British and Chinese regarding the trading of opium led to war being declared by the British Government. This conflict would later become known as the First Opium War.

-----------------------
And thus ends this update, which unfortunately is going to have to serve as more of a teaser than anything of substance.

An overview of Spain as of 1 January 1840:
Spain_Overview1840.jpg




Next update: Butter beats guns (at least initially), now with (more) pictures!
 
Looks very interesting. Will follow with a passion :D
 
Alex Borhild: ...And thus ends this update, which unfortunately is going to have to serve as more of a teaser than anything of substance.

that's OK. it is better than making up stuff ! ! :)

it is a good update ! ! :cool:
 
Milites: Thanks!

GhostWriter: Wait, so you're saying I'm going to have to exclude that ripping yarn I was planning about Spanish troops fighting the Martian invaders in the wilds of Darkest Africa?

Drat.

Seriously though, thank you!

One month and there's only been two updates? Whoever is running this show ought to be - oh, wait a second, that's me. :D

I unfortunately have been busy lately, with Christmas and New Year's and everything, and I'm currently working on figuring out how to find the time to finish my next update, and then, of course, play further ahead so I can write more updates. These objectives probably haven't been aided by my spending time thinking about possible future AAR projects. I'd like to post a real update this week, but we'll see how that goes.

This AAR is not dead!... yet, anyway. I have no plans on letting it die.
 
And now for a very overdue update! Good thing AARs aren't graded like school assignments, right? ;)

Chapter III: Peace at Home, War Abroad (1840-1845)

On January 1, 1840, the French Foreign Legion, British Auxiliary Legion, and Portuguese Legion were officially mustered out of service. These formations comprised a strength, on paper, of thirty-two thousand men, which happened to be a relatively sizable percentage of the Spanish Army. While these formations were, at least nominally, entirely comprised of French, British, and Portuguese men respectively, in practice all of them had seen casualties replaced by Spanish conscripts. In addition to diplomatic considerations (it being judged that the respective governments would not look kindly on their citizens serving in the Spanish army any longer than absolutely necessary), it was argued that purely Spanish divisions should be formed comprising a mix of veterans of existing formations with the conscripts called up to replace the British, French, and Portuguese casualties.
The disbanding of these formations reduced the Army of the North commanded by Mariscal de campo Narváez to just under half of its strength, including the unfortunate loss of the artillery that had been attached to the British Auxiliary Legion. The French Foreign Legion, which had been garrisoned in Valencia, fragmented, with some of the men opting to remain in Spain while others returned to France or French Algeria. On the same date, the army and navy were officially cut to 50% of their maximum strength.

The British Legion, French Foreign Legion, and Portuguese Legion before being disbanded
AlliedTroops.jpg


The Cristino Army of the North was renamed the Army of Spain. After several weeks of debate in the Cortes, the education budget was increased, effective from January 15.
The campaign for the 1840 election, like any other election, saw several debates over the future direction of the nation. Perhaps prompted by the recent end to the Carlist War, the military seemed to have a prominent part in most of these debates. Arguments for reducing the size of the military and using the money thus freed for economic development were opposed by arguments for military expansion and adventurism.
On January 19th, there was an anti-military rally in Oveido where a previously unknown intellectual made a speech in favor of decreasing the military budget, which persuaded some of the population in Asturias and Galicia to a similar view. A few months later there was a rally with opposite intentions in New Castile, where on April 19 a rally saw a speech from a purported resident of Ceuta and a report from a resident of Melilla of Moroccan raids on these cities. The speakers at this event urged the Spanish Government to take military action against Morocco to secure the land around these Spanish territories. News broke of a corrupt politician in Saragossa on July 21, only a few weeks before the election was scheduled to begin. The Progressive Party, which had been in power since early 1836, won the elections in early August.
At roughly the same time, the Whigs led by the Viscount Melbourne won the general election in the United Kingdom.
On October 28, the Opium War ended after China and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland signed the Treaty of Shanghai. In Spain, the last surviving member of an old noble family died on the same day, and since no surviving relatives could be located his property reverted to the government.
In the United States, the Democrats under Martin van Buren won the 1840 Presidential election in early November.

StaffNegotiations.jpg


Negotiation between Spain and the Ottoman Empire resulted in a delegation of Spanish officers departing for Constantinople on November 24 to help the Ottoman Army set up a modern military staff system. In exchange, the Ottomans paid Spain the equivalent of 11% of the Spanish currency reserves at the time. Spain also improved its relations with France and the United States.
On March 1, 1841 construction began on a mission in the Islas del Arzobispo (today known as the Bonin Islands). Later that month, new infantry regiments recruited from Manila and the surrounding countryside began training on March 25 in the Philippines after sufficient small arms had been shipped to Manila from Spain.
The development of a practical steam engine was announced on April 17. Nine days later, the Federal Republic of Central America began to fall apart on April 26 after Honduras declared its independence and declared war on the Federal Republic of Central America. Shortly thereafter, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua also declared their independence from the Federal Republic of Central America, leaving only the territory that would eventually become known as Guatemala under the authority of the Central American government.
The new infantry division, named the 1st Filipino Infantry Division (supposedly in honor of the unit that had been defeated at the Battle of Leyte), entered service on July 25.
On March 28 1842 the Republic of Texas applied to join the United States of America. The United States indicated it would accept Texas as a state, in spite of Mexican protests.
Much of the time after the Progressive victory in the 1840 election was spent peacefully managing the country. On August 16 a report on the structure of the Spanish economy, and possible changes, was presented to the Council of Ministers. On August 19 Honduras and Guatemala signed the Treaty of Tegucigalpa, resulting in Guatemala ceding Vera Paz to Honduras and agreeing to pay war reparations to Honduras until August 1843.
On October 2 the British East India Company went to war against Kashmir. On October 8, a prominent newspaper attacked the government. On December 6 Texas was officially accepted into the United States of America, which caused Mexico to declare war on the United States.
On January 1, 1843, a new infantry division finished training in Spain. On March 19, the Guardia Civil was created.

Interlude: Before the War

During the years between the defeat of the Carlists and the Brunei War, the Spanish Army of the East Indies had not been completely idle. While the Filipino infantry were primarily garrisoned on Luzon to keep order near Manila, in 1840 the Ministry of War had requested a report on the states of the Far East from Serrano, the commander of the Army of the East Indies. For the most part, relatively little could be learned about most of the Asian states - Japan was still isolated under the Shogunate and refused to have any dealings with foreigners, aside from a very small amount of trade with the Dutch, while China was fighting the Opium War with Britain. The Dutch were attempting to consolidate and expand their territories in the East Indies, while Annam and Siam were not exactly welcoming Europeans with open arms either. Few of the attempts made to glean information from traders were successful, as there were relatively few Spanish vessels engaged in trade in the East Indies and the few European traders that volunteered information supplied information of dubious validity. Finally, the decision was made to bring order to Brunei due to its weakness, proximity to the Philippines, and strategic location.

The Brunei War (April 1 1843 - August 25 1844)

An incident where a Spanish vessel was attacked by pirates near Sarawak proved to be the spark that set off the war. Citing the apparent inability of the Sultanate of Brunei to control piracy, the Kingdom of Spain declared war on the Sultanate of Brunei on April 1, 1843. The East Indies Squadron, consisting of the frigate Santa Sabina and a flotilla of transport ships, loaded the 2nd Filipino Infantry Division and landed near Unsun on April 26. While the 2nd Filipino Infantry were bringing that area under Spanish control, the East Indies Squadron returned to Manila to pick up the 1st Filipino Infantry Division. On May 21 the 1st Filipino Infantry finished landing near Unsun and Unsun was officially brought under Spanish control on July 2.
The Army of the East Indies then began to move towards Bandar Brunei and arrived outside the city on July 28, immediately beginning to engage the Guard of the Sultan of Brunei.
On August 14, an insult by a British diplomat did not receive a reply from the Spanish government.
On August 16, after more than two weeks of fighting near Bandar Brunei, the Spanish Army of the East Indies withdrew to Unsun and requested reinforcements from the Phillippines. The Army of the East Indies arrived in Unsun on September 5. The Sultan of Brunei offered Maraboo and Unsun, approximately half of the land under his nominal control, to Spain in exchange for peace, but this was judged as insufficient and the offer was rejected. After several thousand recruits had been conscripted and transported to Unsun, the Army of the East Indies again began to move towards Bandar Brunei and arrived outside the city on November 11, where they were again engaged by the Sultan’s Guard. This time, however, rather than the two forces being roughly equivalent, numerically, the Spanish forces were at full strength (theoretically, there were 20,000 men under arms, though some percentage of these had been lost to desertion or disease), while the Guard of the Sultan was only roughly half as strong. They did, however, have a better grasp of the terrain. Undoubtedly, this is some of the reason that the Spanish fought in and around Bandar Brunei for nearly four months, until the Sultan’s Guard finally vacated Bandar Brunei and retreated to Maraboo to the south-west. It took another several months to pacify the countryside near Bandar Brunei.
Elsewhere, a report on medicine was presented to the Council of Minsters in November 1843. A division of volunteer infantry was formed in Madrid on February 16 and the Archbishop Islands were officially brought under Spanish control on March 1, 1844.
Back in Brunei, the Sultan again offered Maraboo and Unsun in exchange for peace in early May, and again the offer was rejected out of hand.
On May 9 Bandar Brunei was occupied and the Army of the East Indies began to move towards Maraboo, where they arrived on May 27 and engaged the Guard of the Sultan. The Battle of Mukah only lasted two days and was a conclusive Spanish victory. It took approximately a month to secure Maraboo, and it took another two weeks for the Army of the East Indies to arrive in Sarawak, where the Battle of Sarawak only lasted two days (July 14-July 16), ending with a Spanish victory and the capture of the Sultan. It took about a month for the last Bruneian territory to be brought under Spanish control.
On July 25 Egypt ceded Dimashq, Amman, Halab, and Alexandretta to the Ottoman Empire in exchange for peace. On August 2 it was announced that the campaign for the 1845 elections officially began. On August 18 Sarawak was secured and a week later the Sultan agreed to cede Sarawak, Maraboo, and Unsun to Spain in exchange for peace.
On October 19 a debate over trade in León saw protectionist arguments prevail. Reports of corruption in Bonin reached Manila in mid-November.
After the Brunei War the Army of the East Indies was garrisoned in Spanish Borneo to prevent any attempts at rebellion. General Serrano, in his final reports on the war to the Ministry of War and the Governor General of the Philippines, concluded that the majority of Spanish casualties were due to disease and lack of familiarity with the swampy and mountainous territory of Brunei, rather than enemy action, and was cautiously optimistic that, given time, soldiers from Spanish Borneo would faithfully serve under the Spanish flag.

BruneiWarAftermath.jpg

Spanish Borneo and the Sultanate of Brunei as of September 2, 1844
 
I wish to apologize once again for my lack of activity.

A couple things that I thought would be of interest:

I have played this game out to I think about 1857, but I have yet to write any updates, unfortunately...

I got Revolutions last night, and so this AAR from approximately 1857 forward will be played with Revolutions 2.04.

In other news, I've been coming up with lots of other ideas for AARs while I've been playing Victoria lately, and that was even before I got Revolutions. I'm still mulling whether I should get VIP or not, but I'm certainly wanting to try it out. Among these ideas are games as the CSA, the USCA, and the Ottoman Empire.

This AAR hasn't been helped by my being busy, or by my desktop's graphics card acting up a couple weeks ago, so for now consider this AAR on indefinite hiatus.
I'd definitely like to complete this, but I'm not going to make any promises right now of when that will be.