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1657-1664: Karl Talken Goes Crazy​

In the months following his brother's death, Syndic Karl Talken started to leave the everyday administration of Brunswick to his advisors. He was losing interest in everything except for the goals August had died trying to reach - spreading the Catholic faith and increasing Brunswicker power. The latter part of his reign would be the most expansionist and most zealous era in the nation's history.

After contemplating his next move for some months, Talken decided to strike at Yaroslavl. Many thought that the small nation was indebted to Brunswick after her liberation, and the Syndic therefore sought to vassalize it.

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The war itself was a simple matter. Sweden, the only notable enemy nation, signed peace in exchange for status quo within months, and Yaroslavl's ruler pledged his allegiance to Talken in March 1658. As part of the agreement, he converted to the Catholic faith and strived to have his people do the same.

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The next month, Smolensk was forced to start following the True Faith as well.

Next, the angered Syndic suggested a war against Krakow for similar reasons. Some in the army were worried by these aggressive developments, but Talken made sure they were reassigned to positions where they had no say in the matter. While the Syndic made sure that the new positions were reasonably good, not everyone was pleased with the changes.

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Still, Talken had got what he wanted, and war was declared on Krakow in June. As the tiny nation had no allies, their subjugation only took a month.

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But Talken wasn't satisfied. He had his eyes on Fyn, one of the Danish islands where his family had a claim. Displaying his lost sense of proportion, he commissioned a new twenty ship fleet of modern two-decked battleships for the conflict despite the fact that Denmark wouldn't stand a chance against the ships that Brunswick already had.

War was declared in September, with Denmark's allies deserting them. Denmark could only muster token resistance, and when Copenhagen fell in January 1659, Talken successfully negotiated a peace deal that saw Fyn ceded to Brunswick.

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Karl Talken might have been a brooding man at this stage of his life, but he knew Brunswick's traditions as well as anyone. With no more proper claims on his neighbors, he saw no choice but to stop his expansionist ways for now. Increasing the nation's power wasn't currently possible, but spreading Catholicism still was. The normally meager conversion efforts were essentially doubled inside the nation.

After two years of anger and sorrow, Talken didn't seem like a good candidate for re-election: most voters supported a more cautious approach much like the one Brunswick had followed for the past centuries. However, surprisingly many people worried for the Syndic as ruling the nation was all he had left. Reluctant to take that away from the suffering man and confident that his advisors could keep the domestic matters in good shape like they had for the past two years, the voters narrowly kept Talken in his position in the December election.

As the new twodeckers were finished, Heinrich Ferdinand Wassman was hired to continue his father's legacy as the admiral of the Brunswicker fleet.

1660 had an interesting beginning as Grodno and Vilna defected from Bohemia to Lithuania.

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However, it was not Lithuania that Talken decided to target as something even better came up. According to the Brunswicker Cartographers' Guild, Danzig should have been a part of the lands Brunswick claimed from the Ottomans earlier.

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After the recent passing of general Brach, no-one was available to lead Brunswick's army in the upcoming conflict. The supremely talented Heinrich Lindemann was promoted to take the role.

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War was declared in September, and the Teutonic Order was annexed a month later. Apart from the Jylland peninsula, Brunswick controlled the coastline from Vlaanderen to Estland.

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The province of Danzig was incredibly prosperous, especially after the administration worked on bringing the local farming techniques up to Brunswicker standards.

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The conversion of Kalisz in December signaled the beginning of a time where Catholicism spread faster inside the nation. Sieradz followed suit in September 1663 after a quiet couple of years in Brunswick's history. Talken appeared to have calmed down.

Everything being silent in Brunswick didn't mean that it was the case for the rest of the world however. Perhaps the most interesting development was the Golden Horde's victorious war against Denmark that led to the Horde's expansion into Scandinavia.

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This time the Syndic had an easier time winning the December election: he had seemed more stable, and the country was in great shape. But the peaceful conduct might have been only an election ploy. As soon as his position was secure, he sought to smite the heretic Bohemians, looking to conquer the Catholic province of Ratibor.

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The inhabitants seemed to be fine with the proposition of joining not only a Catholic nation but also their Silesian brethren in Breslau.

The Bohemian king was understandably less enthusiastic, so he had to be persuaded by force.

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Newly promoted general Julius Hehn would take care of Bohemian ally Liege, while Lindemann was sent to Bohemia. The gifted general made sure that even the largest Bohemian army was eliminated with minimal casualties.

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Liege paid cash for peace in February 1664, and by the late month the western part of Bohemia had fallen. Peace was signed, with Bohemia giving up Ratibor and Poland gaining its independence in Volhynia and Lublin.

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Brunswick had yet again grown in size at the expense of the Bohemians. But nobody knew what the loose cannon in the Syndic's office would do next.

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Well, I guess there being a tiny knightly order in the 17th century was rather a ridiculous situation to begin with.

What are you going to do with those vassals? Won't they be a bit of a pain if you get cores on them?

nobody knew what the loose cannon in the Syndic's office would do next.
Eat Lithuania over the course of 15 years?

!
 
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This is more my style now!!:cool:
IE Supremely talented, loose cannon.
Sleep very little 3 to 4 a night thank god for days off.
At least now I get payed 1 1/2 for any over 40 per week.
Worked 5 years on dairy farm 50+ at straight pay.
keep up the good work:excl:
 
I have read once that 'much madness is divinest sense'. I guess you could say that about the Syndic...

On another note, even though he forgot how to be a true gentleman, at least his people did not - choosing an insane fanatic because not doing so would make him sad is the essence of being a Brunswickian!

About the general, you get people like this all the time if you recruit them at 100% army tradition ;)
 
Well, I guess there being a tiny knightly order in the 17th century was rather a ridiculous situation to begin with.

What are you going to do with those vassals? Won't they be a bit of a pain if you get cores on them?

Especially when you consider where they were located - you aren't going to fight many heathens or heretics from there.

OPM vassals are never a problem unless there are too many of them, which isn't the case now. If I get a core I diploannex, it's that simple.

Eat Lithuania over the course of 15 years?

Sounds like a plan. :) I actually don't remember what I did next so your guess is as good as mine right now! :D

This is more my style now!!:cool:
IE Supremely talented, loose cannon.
Sleep very little 3 to 4 a night thank god for days off.
At least now I get payed 1 1/2 for any over 40 per week.
Worked 5 years on dairy farm 50+ at straight pay.
keep up the good work:excl:

Thanks! :) I suddenly started to get these conquer/vassalize missions in addition to the "scheduled" Boundary Disputes, so the play is a bit more aggressive right now than it has typically been in this AAR.

ummh, perhaps a missing word in there - constantly? easily? always?

I couldn't say. I thought that's a correct use of the word as well and a dictionary seems to agree with me. :unsure:

that was an impressive rampage through the smaller states, all of whom quickly learnt the errors of their ways

& I just wish I could get generals like Heinrich :cool:

The good thing about the slower pace of expansion (and the flat rate SoI costs of HTTT) is that I have most of the surrounding minors in my sphere. When I get a core or a mission there's very little resistance.

Fighting a lot and not being overly large is a good recipe for high land tradition. :)

I have read once that 'much madness is divinest sense'. I guess you could say that about the Syndic...

On another note, even though he forgot how to be a true gentleman, at least his people did not - choosing an insane fanatic because not doing so would make him sad is the essence of being a Brunswickian!

Haha, very well put! :D It's the same thing with the cartographers - there's a sneaking suspicion that they might be a tad incompetent but they get to keep their jobs as no-one wants to strip them of their livelihoods. That's the way things work in Brunswick. ;)

About the general, you get people like this all the time if you recruit them at 100% army tradition ;)

Yeah, pretty much. :) He's the best I've had in this game though. There have been some periods of time with enough warfare to keep tradition high, but not many.
 
I'm impressed every time you post the map of your conquests. Such a well played game!

Also, damn that Golden Horde! That's some nice moves they have also.
 
Question. If you get border with horde will you colonize or ?:unsure:
 
Has Malurous explained the slow rate of updates, or is this just how it goes?
 
I'm impressed every time you post the map of your conquests. Such a well played game!

Also, damn that Golden Horde! That's some nice moves they have also.

Thank you! I've been very impressed with the Horde in this game, and even more so in the future.

Question. If you get border with horde will you colonize or ?:unsure:

Fronzel already answered, but I'll add that even if this game had horde mechanics, I wouldn't. No core, no province for Brunswick - no exceptions.

He's playing HttT, not DW. Golden Horde is a regular country in HttT.

Indeed, thanks. :)

I forgot :blush: haven't inst. HttT yet, have to finish curent game.
plan on buying DW to.

HTTT was, IMO, the biggest step forward for EU III. But DW is gravy. ;)

Do you not feel like you've won and that you have little left to achieve?

Not really - how could I when I still haven't reached my long term primary goal?

Besides, in this AAR the focus for me has been in the writing more than the playing.

Well, there's always forming Germany, provided he can get the damnable Franken to go along.

Exactly. :D

Ah, hows the Hoards getting along

Sorry, not following?

Lose 66000 manpower? That's quite a lot, isn't it?

Yeah, but it's not like it's permanent. :) And that next war wasn't exactly the type where you end up having manpower issues...

Has Malurous explained the slow rate of updates, or is this just how it goes?

Slow? It's only eight days since the latest update while the average update interval for this AAR is ten and a half! :D No seriously, I'll explain now. I do realize that my updates have been less frequent and, more notably, not as regular as usually, more so in Children of the Sun but here too to some extent. There are a couple of separate reasons.

So, I've been very busy in 2012 so far and have often lacked the energy for creative work in the rare free time alone I have had. I've felt more like reading (books or AARs), watching ice hockey or playing something mindless (by my standards) than writing or playing grand strategy. Considering that, I'd argue that an average of almost two AAR updates per week (in all the AARs combined, and yes quite irregularly) isn't slow under the circumstances, especially when you take into account that I've never been able to have the kind of pace some people do. I'm just not a very fast player, plus I don't like to post an update without putting it aside for at least a couple of days and re-reading in order to ensure some semblance of quality.

Also, Photobucket was reluctant to accept my money for the last two months or so (the subscription page kept crashing for me) so I've sometimes had to wait until the free account monthly bandwidth limit reset before posting new updates. I figured that's a better solution than having the images disappear for longer periods of time than they already did. I did not want to post elsewhere as I find the site to be vastly superior to any other image hosts I've tried and thought that the problem would be temporary. That turned out to be the case a couple of days ago when the page started working, so this issue should be gone.

The additional problem with this AAR is that I have all the files on my old desktop which I only use for writing this AAR currently, so writing an update means crawling around connecting and disconnecting cables before and after. Not exactly something I can do unless I have plenty of time for it. :laugh: And of course I can't access the desktop when I'm on the road, which has been the case most of the time lately. Switching to the laptop for Children of the Sun was simple, just copy the save file and be done with it, but here I'd have to transfer dozens of gigabytes of screenshots.

However, I have plenty of free time in the next month, month and half and hope to be re-energized. So I intend to look at a batch converter to make the file transfer more feasible, and then I can hopefully start rebuilding a backlog so I can update more regularly again. My 2011 pace max, but a lot more regularly for sure.

Whisper it but he may have a life.

Nah - that used to be the case, but thanks to work it kinda went down the drain at the same time my update regularity did. :rofl: More seriously yes, friends and family have really taken precedence whenever I've had the chance.
 
Wow, it's been a really long time since the last update.

Umm... oops? :eek:o Yeah, I've been very busy (a total of fifteen hours at home during the last 2+ weeks, for instance), and in many cases it's been something that I haven't known long enough in advance to really plan for it... The life of a freelancer, I guess.

But going two months without an update certainly wasn't my plan. I'll try to work on it, especially with some lighter workload on the horizon, but I won't make any promises that I possibly won't be able to keep because of RL stuff - after all, I expected to have plenty of free time in June as well and that never really materialized.

You can rest assured that this isn't dead though. ;)