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been slowly catching up on this (around writing a god-awful report on corporate governance). Its a really engaging read and I like the RP element, and limits you've set yourself. Even so thats a mightily impressive Brunswick you've forged.

Thank you for the praise, good to have you here! I do like these house rules/RP, they've added some challenge and, just as importantly, created a pretty fun storytelling environment.

Gentlemanly as ever!
Is such a thing even possible in DW?
I heard Conquest CBs (as one way to get cores) were disabled in the HRE.
So it would be an awfully slow start there.

It would certainly be uglier and slower, especially since there are way less boundary disputes (which are the main method of expansion here of course) - the default MTTH is the same, but many of the modifiers that can make it more frequent have been removed. Also if I read it correctly it can't fire for capitals at all, so the map would look disgusting. :( I haven't played enough DW to have a feel for how it would work out, but considering these changes I'm pretty sure I'm way better off here than I'd be in DW.

Antwerpen fell. Those boundary disputes mount up for gentleman. Bohemia looks a sorry mess compared to the state before its crossed Brunswick. More cores and you'll be creating the link to the Baltric

The Baltic link is something I'm really hoping for, but Bohemia has to lose some more land for that to happen. Antwerpen is a very nice place to have.

Wait... Ukraine a HRE state?! I have this mental image of cossacs sitting in the Reichstag and pledging allegiance to bat'ko imperator...

:rofl: It's a funny one, isn't it? Like I've mentioned before, Bohemia has been pretty enthusiastic as far as adding provinces to the Empire goes.

Can you post a screenshot of the empire, please?

Sorry, but, currently, not really. I've been on the road for nearly three weeks and will be for nearly a month still, and I don't have any saves for this game on my laptop. So for this AAR, I can only post whatever screenshots I happen to have. :( I do have some suitable pictures some years down the line though, so I'll post later.

Borders fully cleaned up!

Indeed! Some very good boundary disputes lately as far as getting a visually pleasing map goes.

I think it's time Bavaria just gave up. How many times have they been reduced to their stating provinces?

They're quite resilient, aren't they? Considering that and the monster they once were, they'd probably be having a great game if the human player didn't happen to start so close to them.

I see you stripped GB of their Northumberland core. Serves them right for not using Reconquest ages ago. But I thought same-culture-group cores were permanent?

They've been annoying enough that hurting them a bit back home seemed like a good idea. :D Yeah, they're permanent in the sense that you don't lose them the natural way (i.e. when failing to reconquer or fight the owner before fifty years has passed), but they can still be removed in a peace deal.

I think you did Bohemia a favor by taking Poznan off their hands.

And they really did add a lot of provinces to the Empire if Ukraine is an Imperial state!

Probably, but it being a disconnected, rebel-infested mess of a province in the first place might have something to do with me too. ;)

I think they added everything they could.

Any more chance of those Lithuanian rebels now you've wrecked the Bohemian army again?

Of course the chance is always better when they're in trouble, but no such luck yet unfortunately.

Speaking of the Empire, while you don't have an Imperial Ban CB on France since you're not the Emperor (or would you not have one anyway since they're in the Empire?), do you think you could give yourself a role-playing reason to go to war without an in-game CB and release those handful of Imperial states they've eaten? It would be infamy-free aside from the DoW hit. It would give a comfortable cushion to the Imperial Integrity bonus as well as keep France from regaining too much strength.

No, I wouldn't go to war without a CB, but I would if I have one. By now I am actively looking for wars where I can force releases in the HRE - the first target isn't France though...

And yeah, France is in the Empire now so their HRE land is "rightful" in that sense.

And isn't it time you diplo-annexed Ansbach? You'll be bordering a bunch more provinces if you do and get a third Franken border.

I don't have the core unfortunately. But the timing of your question is very good...

I like how you cited "securing the French border region" as a reason for taking Antwerp. It's good to think of reasons for annexation in your narrative other than "the King (or Syndic) convinced them Brunswick was awesome".

Heh yeah, there are only so many ways to say "we can rightfully take this province, and we're really gentlemanly too while doing it since the population loves us!" and it happens a lot. ;)

Another excellent update!

Thank you!

I was waiting for you to get Antwerpen. You must have more cash than you know what to do with now. Does the Syndic take his morning swim in a huge swimming pool filled with gold? Or would that be ungentlemanly?

Yeah money isn't exactly an issue anymore, as always we're superb traders and the nation is compact and rich enough. It was a bit tighter than you'd expect for a while since I needed regimental camps everywhere and was typically over the force limits, but I suppose I'm rich enough now that those morning swims would be perfectly fine. :D

So...not that I'm biased but..
The French smack around "your" Imperial integrity so...you smack the British around.
Hmmm very continental.

Oh trust me I'd have taken it out on the French if I had a just cause. :D It is kind of funny, I'm working for Imperial integrity to be able to eat the Empire faster. I suppose there's some sort of integrity in that...

Excellent update, nice to see that Brunswick is so well proportioned. Now for the Polish Corridor.
Oh and Franken too.

Thanks! Let's see where the random number generator tells me to expand next. ;)

You should smack those Frenchies... :p

Rest assured, I eventually will... :)

Now you should move South. There's hope a core will pop up conveniently enough to justifie this move -> towards unified Germany.

Certainly hoping for that. For some reason we've been expanding east and west for the most part rather than south.

Well... Hm... hm... As in the West France is fragmented, and in the East there's no united Rssia, and you can beat England at sea; I can hardly see anyone who could oppose you. Unless China has crossed the Urals. ;) Were you playing without your gentlemanly rules, you'd pbly go after Europe conquest out of sheer boredom or 'because-I-can' factor.

And that's exactly why the rules and RP are there. :)
 
1620-1627: A Rejuvenated Empire​

The daring occupation of Orkney turned out to be admiral Lindemann's last significant operation, as he passed away in August.

1621 featured sweeping changes in the east. Bohemia still refused to stay down, conquering plenty of land from Hungary, while Krakow was annexed by the Ukraine.

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Hattendorf, meanwhile, had spent most of the recent months negotiating with his Ansbacher vassal. Integration was still a ways off, but many in Ansbach were beginning to warm to the idea and other countries saw the long-time vassal as practically a part of Brunswick already.

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In early 1622, Brunswick was battling some recently exposed issues with corruption. This, along with his advanced age, put Hattendorf's re-election in jeopardy. However, many felt that the Ansbach negotiations were too important to risk a Syndic change.

Less than two months after the election, the integration agreement was finalized. Some accused Hattendorf of stalling in order to stay too valuable to lose an election, but this was hard to prove.

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With the Ansbach annexation, the Holy Roman Empire's problems resurfaced. More and more European nobles saw the Empire as a conglomeration of major states that cared little about the smaller nations.

Hattendorf sought ways to rectify this and to return the Empire to its former glory. Milan was the first nation to make a wrong move: their 1624 embargo gave Brunswick the perfect excuse to not only help its merchants, but also to show the world that the smaller Imperial states had at least one protector. Troops were stationed in Baden and Tirol, and war was declared.

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The navy produced the first action of the war. In early September, a small Milanese fleet was intercepted just inside the Pillars of Hercules, and a transport was captured and the rest of the enemy ships sunk.

Over the next couple of weeks, Lienz and Lombardia fell to Brunswick while the main Milanese army was defeated in Treviso.

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The next several months featured victorious but insignificant skirmishes against the Milanese and their Breton allies, and a few enemy provinces were occupied.

Finally in March 1625, the resilient main enemy army met its end in Pisa.

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By the next month, central Milan was fully under Brunswicker control, and the Milanese fleet was forced to battle when Liguria fell. It was soundly beaten.

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Later in the month, a relatively large army that the enemy had scrambled to put together didn't fare nearly as well as its predecessor.

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When Poitou fell in October, all of both Brittany and Milan was occupied by Brunswick. Brittany paid a small indemnity for peace, but Milan had to endure a harsh deal: the nation had to release six different states, including Venice to ensure that Milan couldn't keep Brunswicker merchants out of the rich center of trade anymore.

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Naturally, creating all these new Imperial territories in Italy, which had been dominated by Milan, gave the Empire a new lease on life.

The same was not true for Portuguese theologian de Brito, who succumbed in December. Muhammad Ibn Qasim had demonstrated the skill that collectors from former Muslim countries had, so the vacant court position was given to Ismail Amadou from Songhai, in the deepest Africa.

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The trade improvements that a free Venice and a new advisor brought turned out to be the difference in the next election. Hattendorf celebrated his victory by passing new legislation that transfered more power from the provinces to the Syndic's office.

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In the first two years in his job, collector Amadou demonstrated talent that left Muhammad Ibn Qasim in his shadow. The latter was therefore sacked, with philosopher Wilhelm Opp entering the court in an attempt to improve Brunswick's standing in the world.

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France's new rise met an obstacle in October 1627 when Bohemia forced the French to release Hainaut.

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France didn't seem to miss a beat however, as she compensated soon after by annexing Luxemburg.

Hattendorf, like so many times before, spent this time digging for more potential claims. With help from some scholars in Ansbach, a strong one was discovered on Baden.

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While pressing this claim didn't seem feasible at the moment, there was still excitement in the court. A party was arranged with tragic consequences: the Syndic, while drunk, fell off a city hall balcony and didn't survive the impact with the ground. After 57 extremely successful years in the office, the old man went out with a bang after a pretty decent parting gift.

There would have to be a premature election.
 
The Pillars of Hercules sounds so much better than the Straits of Gibraltar. I can't wait for the boundary disputes to let you connect your baltic territory though. Thanks for another excellent update!
 
If you have another high DIP ruler, those boundary disputes will continue.

Your war against France was so memorable that you didn't give us any screenshots! France and Bohemia keep adding land and you'll just have to keep taking it off them. You reduced Milan down to size.
 
well that was an impressively robust slapping of Milan ... for their own good of course ... & so generous of Baden to offer to join Brunswick (or at least add itself to the list of nations eligible to join Brunswick)

"For their own good", nicely done, you seem to have developed a blind trust in Brunswick's benevolence much similar to mine. :D Naturally, the Milanese can only blame themselves for the thumping as they've bullied all those smaller nations. Which we clearly never do.

Of course with Baden there's the problem of them being relatively large and the province in question being the capital.

The Pillars of Hercules sounds so much better than the Straits of Gibraltar. I can't wait for the boundary disputes to let you connect your baltic territory though. Thanks for another excellent update!

You're welcome and thanks for the praise! :) I, too, like that name.

Interesting as always. It is kinda funny, though, that France owns Cornwall and England Normandy :D.

Thanks. It is funny, especially when you consider that, in spite of the very strong (scary, really) start, France has had a pretty ugly game since the Reformation. Much of the time they've been an absolute mess on the continent so it's a bit of a surprise that Cornwall is theirs now.

I like that the one keeping the empire alive is the giant incapable of becoming the Emperor.

Of course, "keeping the empire alive" just happens to strengthen me and weaken any rivals. What a happy coincidence! ;)

If you have another high DIP ruler, those boundary disputes will continue.

I'm certainly aiming for one, republic helps there.

Your war against France was so memorable that you didn't give us any screenshots! France and Bohemia keep adding land and you'll just have to keep taking it off them. You reduced Milan down to size.

Not sure if I'm missing something here - I don't think there's been a war against the French? Bohemia's recent strategy of grabbing random provinces (leading to that horrible looking map) instead of expanding with any logic is paying off as there isn't much they can be forced to release anymore. Milan wasn't so lucky.

Ansbach was definitely a move in the right direction - to the South.

Indeed, and we're slowly surrounding Franken...

Now the fragmentation of Milan was very nice and neat, but what's the hidden agenda the Brunswick gentelmen have behind this?

The Brunswick administration, of course, is doing this out of the kindness of their hearts. I, on the other hand, am doing some boundary dispute maintenance: in HTTT, the event fires twice as often inside the HRE, but only if there are at least 25 member states. So I need to keep the amount of members up as long as it's possible.

And Milan was so close to uniting Italia...

Sort of, but I doubt they'd have gone after Rome anyway.

Ach, an obstacle! D:

Hey, serves them right. ;)
 
1627-1639: The Silent Syndics and the Ottoman Invasion​

The premature election was organized post-haste, and August Heinrich Talken, the younger brother of general Johann Talken, emerged as the winner.

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Talken did a good job initially in the nation's everyday administration. Unfortunately, the illness and subsequent death of Johann in 1629 got to him very badly, and from that point on it was practically the court advisors and the generals that ran the country.

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This led to a very silent period in Brunswick's history as no-one seemed to have the authority for any dramatic changes. At least the generals, led by Erich Lindemann, pushed through an initiative to improve Brunswick's military education environment. The development of a prestigious military college in Hannover started in February 1631. The already difficult process was slowed further when general Jaxtheim died in April, taking away one of the major minds behind the project.

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Having been essentially absent for the second half of his reign, Talken was due for replacement come election time. Erich Brach was chosen to be the next Syndic in December.

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A capable administrator, he helped the generals finalize the war college project.

With the death of collector Gonçalo de Oliveira in November 1632, Brunswick continued its recent patronage of philosophers. Philipp Siegmund Ickelrath was brought in.

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While Brach's leadership wasn't a problem by itself, he wasn't a true asset either. His time in the office was marred by provincial authorities taking advantage of a Syndic who wasn't well suited personality-wise to strictly control them.

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All in all, it was Brach's passiveness that cost him a re-election: in a country that was by now used to being the major player in Europe, four years of no initiative shown by the Syndic was too much. As such, Karl Talken took the position in the 1635 elections, trying to do a better job than his distant relative August Heinrich.

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During 1635 and early 1636 France fought a series of victorious wars, annexing Auvergne and forcing Baden to release Alsace.

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In late 1636 Austria took advantage of a Bohemia that was locked in a struggle with the Ottomans, conquering Sudety. As for the Bohemian-Ottoman war, that ended in August 1638 with the Turks conquering a large area with access to the Baltic.

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Having Bohemia split in two halves was a good thing, but the situation as a whole still wasn't something that Karl Talken was happy to see. An infidel nation certainly wouldn't be allowed to keep Imperial land on Brunswick's border.

While the Ottomans were one of the rare nations with a military that outnumbered Brunswick's, the Syndic was certain that they wouldn't be able to transport a very large portion of their troops into the region.

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After a little bit of delay caused by some unrest due to reforms that further limited provincial autonomy - with them, Talken wanted to avoid the kind of issues with local authorities that his predecessor had faced - war was declared in November.

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Newly promoted admiral Christian Franz Wassman got to work immediately, sinking four separate Ottoman transport fleets in the Baltic Sea during the first month of action. The threat of major enemy reinforcements was over before the first land battle, but the Ottomans still had sizable forces in their recently acquired Baltic holdings.

Another new face, general Wilhelm Hehn, started the dismantling of those forces. The 31000 man main enemy army was reduced to less than a half of that in late January 1639. Days later, Lindemann weakened the secondary army.

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With Hehn driving retreating Ottomans south from Warmia and Lindemann heading north from Sieradz, the two generals managed to surround both enemy forces in Plock in early March. While some Turks managed to flee, the army was finished by a chasing Lindemann weeks later.

3713.jpg


There were no more Ottomans in sight. Brunswicker armies spread to siege the provinces, and admiral Wassman took the fleet to the Mediterranean, intending to strike at enemy ships there.

The fortresses had fallen by late summer, when Wassman caught sixteen Ottoman warships doing battle with a small Breton fleet. Things had looked ugly for Brittany, but the arrival of nearly seventy Brunswicker vessels understandably turned the tide.

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Despite their losses, Brittany played a huge part in the triumph as without their distraction the enemy would have surely fled to port when Wassman approached.

It was at this point that the Ottoman sultan realized that his nation was in no shape to fight. The populace had grudgingly accepted the terrors of the long Bohemian war thanks to the major victory, but the almost immediate Brunswicker war was too much, especially since the sultanate was clearly losing this one.

Still, the sultan had his dignity: the prestigious ruler made it clear that the Baltic access for his lands would have to be retained for easy transportation. Talken hesitated, but finally agreed to a peace that would see Sandomierz ceded to Brunswick.

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This wasn't optimal as the province wasn't connected to the rest of Brunswick, but it wasn't a huge issue as it could be conveniently accessed through Mazovia, which was under Brunswick's protection.

Finally in December, the Austrians won a second war against Bohemia, forcing them to release the Teutonic Order in Danzig. In a short period of time, Bohemia's Baltic presence had taken a huge hit.

3716.jpg
 
Great, I see that the Turks will take the place of England as imperial reqonquest targets, depending on which of these are in the HRE, you have up to 3 more epic wars against the heathen with the same amount of gained provinces :)

... for less gentlemany and more gamely people there would be a strategy of allying with the Turk against Bohemia, so they take more lands, which will be possible for requinquest later on. Good that you are not one of these people :)
 
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Great, I see that the Turks will take the place of England as imperial reqonquest targets, depending on which of these are in the HRE, you have up to 3 more epic wars against the heathen with the same amount of gained provinces :)

Exactly! And all of them are in the HRE, so unless the Turks lose the provinces I'm going to have my Baltic connection relatively soon. :) The problem, however, is that Holy War runs out soon so getting into wars will require a break or two...
 
The update, though looking uninteresting at first turned into a war with the Infidel!

Booh, Bohemia crumbling :(.
 
The Silent Syndics years must have had sth to do with the lack of 'boundary disputes', I guess. It's not that there was no action and there's nothing wrong with gaining one more province in the East. But shouldn't the South be the priority?
 
If the Ottoman AI is up to speed on Brunswick's expansion techniques, those Baltc provinces it owns will be removed from the HRE forthwith. Those Talken's are keeping the Republic going singlehandedly. As for France, marriage into and inheriting would seem to me to be the best course of action. Castille looks to have all it needs to become Spain, but hasn't. Any reason why not?
 
Castille looks to have all it needs to become Spain, but hasn't. Any reason why not?

look closely at the map, they don't have Barcelona

Like how your doing so far. The best part about your expansion rule is that you don't have to wait 50 years for those provinces to start being productive. The only annoying thing is that you have to wait for a core to pop on that last province you need to form Germany, which is probably getting VERY annoying for you.