Gentlemen in Germany - a Brunswick AAR

[Malurous]

Is that a British fleet?
And it seems that France ate Burgundy - could you please provide some info regarding the French expansion 'to Rhein' (or beyond)?

Sure is. No idea why it's there at that time however.

I can't say much beyond what's already been shown in the updates as France has been covered pretty well. There's again a lot of French stuff in the next couple of chapters, and the ones on page 13 should give a very good idea of their current position.

It looks like that the HRE title is turning more and more nominal .

Heh yeah, it will get a bit more interesting on that front shortly. It's a shame really, I'm happy with the position being a quiet one and having my little Austrian friends take care of it.

Well the new Danish king didn't waste much time sticking it to the Swedes. I hope you're not doing anything as ungentlemanly as contemplating a Kurland corridor.

Haha good catch, I actually hadn't noticed that. Very fitting.

The "First" in the title might be a bit of a spoiler... But ungentlemanly? The suggestion is offensive.

Are you going to go for Mecklenburg right away, or will you wait until Bohemia is distracted or breaks the alliance?

The plan, with the information we have so far, was to wait. However, things change and the Mecklenburg situation ends in a way that's a bit different from what you'd expect, as can be seen in the next update.

Nice progress.

Thanks.

Your kingdom is looking pretty good, and Electorship is great, but Bohemia is very frightening.

True on all counts. The Bohemian situation will only get worse, but on the bright side I am starting to get the sense that I frighten them a bit as well.

I'm quite happy that you decided to vote for Austrians after all, as it was them who invited you to this elitist club, if I may say so.

Certainly. In fact, there was never any question - I'll support them as Emperor as long as they're otherwise able to keep the title. I'm ready and willing to run for the position, but not against my Austrian pals.

[Malurous]

1530-1537: Mecklenburg

For some reason, both Great Britain and France denied Brunswick's merchants entry into their trade centers in October. A total of four centers were now off limits, but little could be done to rectify the situation.

In better news, the Thuringians of Dresden were getting sick and tired of Bohemian persecution by 1531. Turning to the nation that tried to protect them earlier, the local nobles let it be known that they would welcome Brunswicker rule.



This new development made conquering Mecklenburg very tempting. Earlier, such a war would have meant risking a conflict with Bohemia in which Brunswick couldn't make direct gains, but the new prize in Dresden made the suffering of a Bohemian war seem worthwhile.

Rudolf August I launched preparations immediately, and by July the troops were in position. The conflict turned out to be considerably simpler than expected: when Brunswick declared war on Mecklenburg, the Bohemians dishonored their alliance with the small nation.



Statesman Otto Hattendorf's brother Julius took control of Brunswick's armed forces for this campaign, and he swiftly defeated Mecklenburg's army in early August, with barely one hundred men surviving the battle. The province was put under siege, while Brunswick's vassal Hamburg took care of the retreating enemy.

After a successful assault in September, the local duke offered a king's ransom for his throne. Brunswick had declined a similar offer from the Hansa earlier, but unlike his predecessor, Rudolf August felt no hurry. Feeling confident that he could come up with a way to somehow explain the situation to his Mecklenburger supporters, the King accepted the offer of money.



For once, it seemed that Brunswick could expand the war fleet while staying within budget. But the windfall soon turned out to be even more important than anticipated.

Soon after the peace deal, Castille joined France and Great Britain in embargoing Brunswick. With more and more centers of trade - many of which used to have a Brunswicker monopoly - becoming inaccessible, the economy was reaching breaking point. Even with bare minimum expenses, Brunswick was running a budget deficit.



Thankfully, the replenished treasury could keep Brunswick afloat for a decent amount of time. Still, a more long term solution was needed. To that end, peace time military spending which was low to begin with was further decreased.

That wasn't the end of Brunswick's troubles over the next couple of years. First, Rudolf August's senile uncle told stories about the problems to anyone who would listen in his native Denmark (this didn't exactly help Rudolf August's popularity), while later, the King's attempts to remedy the economy by battling corruption met resistance among the more xenophobic nobles who had become further angered due to the security leaks.



But these issues paled in comparison to what France was going through. Still battling religious issues, the French couldn't defend their lands properly against Great Britain, and the British conquered and liberated a remarkable amount of land.



Rudolf August I had been doubted ever since he took the crown, and just when his accomplishments had started to win people over, his uncle's shenanigans had wrecked his popularity again. He wanted to take care of these problems once and for all, and saw removing Friesland from the map as a perfect solution.

Ever since the von Welf dynasty's reign, Brunswick's and Friesland's relations had been uneasy at best and venomous at worst, culminating in Friesland's addition as a Brunswicker vassal in the 1486 partition of Gelre. Some in Brunswick saw this as fitting humiliation, others found Friesland's continued existence disgraceful.

The King was in principle happy enough with the current situation, but he knew that most nobles would love to see the little duchy annexed. By early 1534 he had found the Frisian supporters he needed for his plan.



However, despite these accomplices, Brunswick was still remarkably unpopular in Friesland, much like Friesland in Brunswick. Fully integrating the province was out of the question for now, but the King continued to slowly mold his dream, hoping to eventually turn it into reality.

Austria attacked Styria once again in June. As usual, Brunswick answered the call to arms, but unlike before, it wasn't a war of no action due to a border with Styrian ally Muscowy in Riga.



Launching a faraway operation like that put a strain on the nation's logistics. To ensure that soldiers farther east were properly fed, a national grain depot was established in the eastern part of Brunswick's main holdings, in formerly Brandenburger Ruppin.



Also, the construction of additional flytes was started in northern Germany. Quick troop transportation between Germany and the small Baltic holdings could be instrumental in tough situations.

However, such tough situations would not arise in the current conflict. Muscowy had its hands full with Novgorod in a separate war, allowing general Hehn to lead his troops to enemy territory without opposition, and by the time the Russian states signed peace for a return to status quo in late September, both Wenden and Vilna were in Brunswicker hands. A peace deal was forced on the Muscovites without a single battle.



The diplomatic concessions appeared minor on the surface, but they'd hopefully keep Muscowy out of any future conflicts with Brunswick or Austria.

The war between Styria and Austria still raged however, and it proved to be the end of Austrian Emperor Leopold IX as he received a fatal wound while leading an assault on Graz. Rudolf August I promptly started building a close relationship with the new Emperor, Joseph I.

In early 1535 the war ended without significant concessions. In alarming news, Muscowy was less lucky, as Bohemia took advantage of their struggles and pushed east once again.



The other superpower, France, had a worse year. The troubled nation lost its Mediterranean coast as a nationalist rebellion led to a free Provence, while other provinces defected to Liege and a newly formed free Brittany.



Early next year, the last French province in Iberia was lost to Aragon via defection.

For Brunswick, this was a quiet period as far as foreign matters went. Domestically, the nation thrived as the religious authorities of the capital region were finally seeing eye to eye with the state church. Hannover was an important symbolic victory for the Catholic church.

By the late summer Rudolf August was once again looking at Mecklenburg, with general Hattendorf ready to repeat his successful campaign there. But the King was forced to reconsider: Austria was still struggling with Muscowy, and Rudolf August didn't want to force his friend to fight on two fronts, especially since the existing war was one that Brunswick had taken part in in the beginning.

In January 1537 war was finally declared after Austria had secured the release of Lithuania in Wenden. Unfortunately, this was too late for general Hattendorf, who had caught a disease in the early winter and perished. With Friedrich Wilhelm Hehn stationed in the Riga region, his brother Karl Wilhelm was promoted to take care of Mecklenburg.

The war itself was a simple matter. Mecklenburg's tiny army was no match for general K.W. Hehn's forces, and after a quick assault, Mecklenburg's conquest was secured on February 4th.

[Athalcor]

This update pretty much solves the questions I had about France .

Interesting how much cohesive your territory is.

[Dewirix]

A nice bit of play with Mecklenburg, and is that a university they've got there too?

France's collapse has certainly taken the pressure off the western front, so for now Bohemia remains the major challenge. Their refusal to support Mecklenburg was gratifying, although it made me think of Victoria 2 and how they would probably have still been able to intervene if they were a GP.

Looking at the map of France, Britain's control of the mouth of the Seine would give them a stranglehold on trade moving downriver to Paris. Grim times indeed for the French. Speaking of the UK, is that them in the Netherlands too?

[Malurous]

Okay, my backlog's getting a bit out of hand so I'm updating already lest I get buried in screenshots. I hope this isn't a huge problem for anyone.

This update pretty much solves the questions I had about France .

Interesting how much cohesive your territory is.

Good to hear. Yes, I would have expected some "tentacle" in there... I guess the fact that you're most likely to get a boundary dispute on territory you border in many provinces helps.

A nice bit of play with Mecklenburg, and is that a university they've got there too?

Thanks, indeed it is.

France's collapse has certainly taken the pressure off the western front, so for now Bohemia remains the major challenge. Their refusal to support Mecklenburg was gratifying, although it made me think of Victoria 2 and how they would probably have still been able to intervene if they were a GP.

Heh yeah... It was unexpected but kind of nice. Made me feel like they're more nervous than I ever was.

Looking at the map of France, Britain's control of the mouth of the Seine would give them a stranglehold on trade moving downriver to Paris. Grim times indeed for the French. Speaking of the UK, is that them in the Netherlands too?

If it wasn't France, I'd give them no chance of recovering. As it is, you can never count them out.

Yes. The British have a decent presence on the mainland, in addition to their provinces they have a seemingly staunch ally in Armagnac and IIRC Utrecht is a vassal.

[Malurous]

1537-1540: The Second Baltic Campaign of Rudolf August I and the Fall of Paris

The conquest of Mecklenburg opened several more opportunities for Brunswick. First of all, having attained his goal of conquering Mecklenburg, and remembering how he had successfully pushed through his frivolous claims on Kurland earlier, King Rudolf August I now contended that there had been another mistake in his Baltic inheritance: Memel should have been a part of it as well.



While it's universally agreed that Rudolf August was an extraordinary diplomat, it's nevertheless baffling that the other powers bought that claim.

Meanwhile, seeing the other tiny nations of northern Germany gone one after another, Brunswick's vassals Hamburg and Meissen suddenly seemed keen to properly join their master. Especially the prosperous Hamburg would be a prized addition to the country.



As if that wasn't enough good news for the court in Hannover, it was also learnt that Guyenne had declared independence while other French provinces had defected to, surprisingly, the Palatinate.



The great power essentially was no more.

Of all of his options, the Brunswicker King saw Memel as the most enticing. The fleet transported K.W. Hehn's army to Kurland, with his brother's troops in Riga. In late March, everything was ready for the declaration of war.



Once again, a small detachment was sent to Livland. F.W. Hehn headed towards Samogitia, while his brother went for Memel.

It was Karl Wilhelm that ended up clashing with his brother's nemesis, Erik XIII. The April battle in Memel went poorly for the Swedish king.



Erik came back in June, but didn't fare that much better.



In a catastrophic development, the retreating Swedes ran into a twenty-thousand strong Austrian army that had landed in Ostpreussen. With help from their other army, led by general Liljencrantz, king Erik was able to defeat the Austrians in an extended battle, but his exhausted men were now at the Hehn brothers' mercy, especially since the sieges of Memel and Samogitia had been successfully finished.

This time, it was Friedrich Wilhelm that led the troops to meet the Swedish king. Once again, the Swedes couldn't match Brunswicker might despite solid defensive positions.



This was enough for Swedish ally Yaroslavl, and peace with a return to status quo was secured in October.

After several skirmishes, king Erik fled in mid-December, leaving Liljencrantz to take the final humiliating defeat - a surrender of Sweden's remaining forces to the small siege force around Königsberg on St. Stephen's Day.



The war was now just a matter of sieging Livland and Ostpreussen in order to force Sweden to the negotiation table.

In France, the destruction was close to complete. The Palatinate had assumed control of Paris, the national economy was in shambles and an independent Normandy was about to form in Caux, taking France's last Channel province.



Another dramatic change happened in the Holy Roman Empire. With a female ruler, Maria Theresia I, taking the Austrian throne, the overwhelming elector favorite lost the crown to Milan's Rodolfo I due to Maria Theresia's ineligibility.



This was a blow for Brunswick as having their trusted friend as the Emperor had been a boon. There had never been any trouble with Milan, but the relationship was relatively cold nonetheless. Rudolf August I decided that Brunswick must take a more active role in the Empire in the new circumstances.

Starting to support himself as Emperor was the first step. Another came in March 1538 when the Swedish peace was finalized.



In addition to Memel, Brunswick gained Livland. In the new situation, the King argued, Brunswick had to take an active role in protecting Imperial interests, and this included reclaiming HRE land that was in the hands of outsiders. Finding support for this inside the Empire was not difficult.





After the war, expanding the fleet became a high priority. With the eastern Baltic holdings becoming more substantial, more flexibility in naval matters was not only necessary - it was also easier to achieve than ever thanks to access to more naval resources in the east. The transport capacity was doubled to twelve ships, while three additional caravels were also constructed.

While this was somewhat expensive with the economy strained by the many embargoes, new and more effective ways to collect taxes made the expenditure possible.



Finally by late 1539, earlier additions to the realm such as Leipzig had been fully integrated, and the King could start annexation talks with more of the country's tiny neighbors. With the Frisians clearly unwilling, the focus of negotiations switched to Hamburg. The prosperous city joined Brunswick in January 1540.

[Athalcor]

Did you actually expect to gain the core on Livland? Also, that's a quite funny Finland you got there .

[Facit]

Did you consider forming Germany earlier? I think you only need Ansbach and Franken cored after you take Meissen and Dresden, I'm not sure since they changed the requirements slightly in DW. I personally think you should remain Brunswick, but Germany is rare enough to be interesting.

Also, is that a CoT in Brandenburg? Can you give a short overview of your trade?

[Dewirix]

I have to say I'm astounded at the rate at which you can produce cores. I'd have thought expanding in the HRE was going to be difficult, but you seem to be having next to no problems with it.

France losing the Ile de France to the Palatinate is a serious blow for any would-be French unifier. The Palatinate can't do it, and none of the others will be able to without taking it back, and from a member of the Empire at that. I think I'll start obsessing over the British threat instead.

[FinnishFish]

Nice, nice... Such fast core producing... :P

[Malurous]

Did you actually expect to gain the core on Livland? Also, that's a quite funny Finland you got there .

Naturally, why would I take it otherwise?

At least it's not the ridiculous Novgorod-released Finland you see so often...

Did you consider forming Germany earlier? I think you only need Ansbach and Franken cored after you take Meissen and Dresden, I'm not sure since they changed the requirements slightly in DW. I personally think you should remain Brunswick, but Germany is rare enough to be interesting.

Franken only, in fact (of course, taking Dresden might be easier said than done). Yeah I'll form it if I get the chance, it'd be a nice enough accomplishment for a game with this rule set.

Also, is that a CoT in Brandenburg?

Yes.

Can you give a short overview of your trade?

At least five merchants in all CoTs I can see, barring embargoes. My merchants battle for monopolies, first getting them and then losing them relatively soon. I tend to have 5-6 at any given time.

Trade produces ~100 ducats a month (a bit less now I believe due to the embargoes), which is still most of my income.

I have to say I'm astounded at the rate at which you can produce cores. I'd have thought expanding in the HRE was going to be difficult, but you seem to be having next to no problems with it.

Yeah me too to some extent. I get a boundary dispute about once a decade by average, which isn't too shabby. The recent period has been very nice what with the good missions and the Imperial Reconquest opportunity.

France losing the Ile de France to the Palatinate is a serious blow for any would-be French unifier. The Palatinate can't do it, and none of the others will be able to without taking it back, and from a member of the Empire at that. I think I'll start obsessing over the British threat instead.

Heh, might be a good call by now. If the Palatinate can avoid breaking apart, I don't expect to see a major power in the area.

Of course, if France recovers it could reconquest without having to worry about the Emperor - they're a HRE member now as their capital moved to Savoie.

Nice, nice... Such fast core producing... :P

Yes, the "extras" from the missions/HRE stuff have been nice.

[BootOnFace]

This is very impressive and I love your house rules. I'm playing a Bavaria game because of this. Roleplaying as an "Old Guard" regime with full serfdom, narrowminded, aristocracy, and mercantilism.

[Fronzel]

How do you tell if you'll get an Imperial Reconquest core?

And if you form Germany, you'll get an avalanche of cores, many of which will probably be easy to take, especially with France imploding in the west (never seen such a thing, by the way). Wouldn't being huge and powerful be kind of boring if you refuse to harbor any aggression?

[Malurous]

This is very impressive and I love your house rules. I'm playing a Bavaria game because of this. Roleplaying as an "Old Guard" regime with full serfdom, narrowminded, aristocracy, and mercantilism.

Thanks, I'm always happy when my AARs inspire people. That's a fun kind of game, I played a similar one once. Just stay out of extreme centralization unless you want a game of Time of Troubles.

How do you tell if you'll get an Imperial Reconquest core?

You get one every time when, as a member of the Empire, you conquer a HRE province from a non-member, but it only fires for the first such province in a peace deal (and doesn't fire at all for annexations). At least that's how it works in this version of the game.

And if you form Germany, you'll get an avalanche of cores, many of which will probably be easy to take, especially with France imploding in the west (never seen such a thing, by the way). Wouldn't being huge and powerful be kind of boring if you refuse to harbor any aggression?

If it's possible to form Germany soon, I don't expect this to last until 1821. In fact, reclaiming the German stuff is a possible finish for this AAR.

As for France, they tend to get hit pretty hard by Religious Turmoil, and in this game that was combined with a bunch of excommunicated kings in a row (for which I'm to blame) - a recipe for disaster as far as revolt risk goes.

[Fronzel]

You get one every time when, as a member of the Empire, you conquer a HRE province from a non-member, but it only fires for the first such province in a peace deal...

That seems kind of odd. Why shouldn't it work for multiple "re-conquered" provinces?

[Malurous]

That seems kind of odd. Why shouldn't it work for multiple "re-conquered" provinces?

Bug in the game, I assume. And not a fair one either as only the human player has this restriction - the AI can get cores on any number of simultaneous Imperial Reconquests.

It's like this from HTTT to unpatched DW, but I hear it's fixed in DW 5.1 (or so I read on these forums, haven't tried it myself).

[Malurous]

1540-1544: The Empire Strikes Back

Early 1540 was spent on smoothing things over with Meissen and Holstein. The two vassals, less thrilled about the idea of joining Brunswick for now than Hamburg had been, went as far as breaking their alliances with Brunswick. Relations were quickly rebuilt with the diplomatically skilled Rudolf August I playing a large role.

Despite the fact that no long term problems lingered, this vassal unrest was yet another sign of the problems in the feudal system. Statesman Otto Hattendorf was asked to present more modern methods of governing the subjects, and the King ended up starting a series of reforms that aimed for a more bureaucratic solution. While the feudal levies had played a large part in Brunswick's military in the past, the recent expansion allowed the armed forces to survive without them when the restructuring enabled a more effective government in other ways.



With most of Rudolf August's attention going to the reforms, the period was otherwise quiet, with the passing of general F.W. Hehn being the only other news of note in Brunswick. Abroad, however, Bohemia kept getting stronger, but their annexation of Transylvania also made their position more vulnerable due to a new neighbor: the Ottoman Empire.



As France had essentially fallen and Castille's attention was turned to the west for the most part, Bohemia was now bordering the three greatest threats they could face any time soon: the Ottomans, the Golden Horde, and Brunswick.



In the north, Sweden's struggles continued. In March 1542, Great Britain took two separate provinces, and Denmark annexed Norway - which had been a Swedish vassal - while continuing the push into Swedish territory.



This was too much for Holstein, the only one of Brunswick's vassal neighbors that hadn't been an annexation candidate thus far. Their northern neighbor had been a minor power until now, but with a weakened Sweden, Denmark was back in the race for control of Scandinavia. With these developments, it was relatively simple for Rudolf August to find local supporters yearning for the safety of Brunswicker rule.



Statesman Hattendorf died of natural reasons in May, and for the first time in over eighty years it was decided that a replacement wouldn't be appointed. In a way, Hattendorf had made his position unnecessary, as Brunswick was now governed so efficiently that any further tweaks didn't require a dedicated advisor.

As a result, Heinrich Karl Talken, a theologian, was hired instead. While all of the provinces that had turned Protestant earlier had seen the error of their ways since, the Reformed population had been more stubborn. Talken was brought in partially to find the reason why the state church's methods that successfully brought Protestants back to the flock failed with Reformed people, and make the necessary adjustments.



The two former major powers now in decline had more problems during the year as well as the next one. France saw more defections, including the Baleares, while Sweden lost one province to both Novgorod and Bohemia, and huge tracts of land to Denmark.



In addition to taking Samogitia from the Swedes, Bohemia annexed the Ukraine for an even more formidable kingdom.

Brunswick's King and his diplomats spent all this time working on the country's relations with Imperial electors. By July 1543 this bore fruit as both Mainz and Alsace had begun to support Brunswick instead of the disreputable Milanese, giving Brunswick the upper hand in any future election.

Milanese king Rodolfo's response was swift: he immediately ousted Brunswick from its elector position. To add insult to injury, the chosen replacement was France.



Rudolf August I was a man of honor, but in a situation like this that didn't necessarily mean being kind. Removing the elector status from one of the Empire's prominent actors to give it to what was now essentially a failed state located largely outside the Empire, and one that had a brutal history of preying upon the weaker members to boot, was a travesty with a transparent goal of personal gain.

As such, the King worked to get Cologne to support Brunswick as well to stay ahead of Milan - a difficult task considering the two nations' past hostilities, but one that was ultimately successful - while pulling strings in Rome to arrange Rodolfo's immediate excommunication.

A year later, Rudolf August got his reward: upon Rodolfo's death, he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor.



Only three days later, the Milanese continued their petty ways. The Brunswicker economy, already strained by the Castilian, French and British embargoes but helped considerably by the new possibility to use the military resources of member states instead of Brunswicker ones in some cases, was put to test again as Milan, too, blocked access to their market. The effect was drastic as both Venezia and Liguria were major centers of trade.

This was made worse by the fact that Rudolf August I had recently okayed expensive plans to add artillery regiments to the military. While some other nations had introduced cannons earlier, the King couldn't be swayed to include them until some recent improvements in artillery technology.



Due to the economic question marks, war was certainly not at the forefront of Brunswicker politics. However, it was at this time that the perfect opportunity to battle Bohemia emerged: the Bohemians' unjust declaration of war on Hungary led to a rift in their relations with Austria.



Rudolf August saw his opening and didn't waste any time. War was declared the next day, with Austria joining in on Brunswick's side against their recent ally.



With Karl Wilhelm Hehn the only general with experience and a major war at hand, Brunswick was in need of fresh leadership. The two promoted men were most fitting for a Bohemian conflict: the Opp brothers, Heinrich and August Heinrich, were nephews of Julius Opp, who almost single-handedly saved Brunswick the first time they faced Bohemia in the War for Thuringian Independence.

A.H. Opp drew first blood in October as a relatively large Bohemian army crossing the border learned about the new Brunswicker artillery the hard way.



Meanwhile, general Hehn had started sieging Dresden, Brunswick's primary goal in the war, while H. Opp had crossed the border in the northeast, marching from Kurland to Samogitia and quickly taking the province in order to avoid defending a winter siege.



After Bohemia's one failed venture, the main front was very silent. Both Brunswick and Austria were slowly sieging fortresses close to the border, with large Bohemian armies lurking nearby, seemingly unwilling to initiate battle but ready to strike at a weakness or to stop a further advance.

The northeast was a different matter. H. Opp met resistance in early December, but thankfully reinforcements from Riga helped drive the Bohemians off.



That was only the beginning. With tens of thousands of troops marching towards Samogitia, Bohemia's strategy of posting just enough men on the main front to keep advancing armies honest while striking with full force in the northeast had been revealed. Unfortunately, the novel approach had caught Rudolf August by surprise and the northeastern region, while certainly well garrisoned, was ill-prepared to bear the brunt of the Bohemian attack.

But all was not lost. It was certainly possible to retreat from Samogitia and use the fleet to transport additional forces to the area. The men in and around Dresden were ordered to assault that province so they'd be ready to invade the enemy's undefended heartland. The war was still under control, although the Bohemian gambit could make it more costly, with both the economy and the people set to suffer.

The King sent a message describing his concerns to the Bohemians, and shockingly found out that they agreed and were willing to accept a very reasonable peace deal. Armies set to march for Prague turned home instead as Bohemia ceded Dresden, apparently content to rid themselves of unruly western subjects when their nation's focus was on the east.



The Thuringians had been avenged, and Dresden had a German ruler again.

[Omen]

That was an action packed update for certain. Is it possible for Brunswick to remove France and reinstate themselves as an Elector now that Rudolf August is Emperor? I hadn't thought so, but I thought I'd ask.

Excellent additions to the Brunswick patrimony, and another core to boot. You expand slowly, but very steadily.

[Dewirix]

Beating Bohemia and becoming Emperor in the same update? Aside from losing the electorship, it's hard to see how things could have gone better for Brunswick in this update.

I think I'm right in saying that was the hardest to get of the cores you need for Germany. Bohemia had the potential to give you a rough ride, but seem to have backed down when they realised it would mean a two front war between you and Austria in addition to their war with Hungary. Is Krakow an OPM in EU3?

[Memento Mori]

I believe that a true gentleman would seek to provide maximum protection for your new subjects *cough* Imperial reforms *cough*...