Chapter XII: A Cross-Shaped Dagger
1537
In October we witness to one of the few historical events who are incorporated in SRI, the Burgundian Succession. To be honest, I never realised it was event driven before because I normally play with event alerts off… Anyway here we go, I believe MM players are already familiar with this:
The Emperor inherits most of Burgundy and Bavaria gets cores on Antwerpen and Vlanderen while the other provinces are added to the Imperial Demesne, which means they will switch hands when the Emperor changes and will never become his cores. As you can see the Imperial Demesne modifier make this provinces quite valuable despite not being cores. The Emperor might further expand the Demesne every time he gets an un-cored provinces.
In November England gets Aberdeen in a peace treaty with Ferrara-Scotland.
Before the end of the year, Poland DOWs Mazovia, ending up in a war with Venice, Pommerania and Hungary, but for now they don't call us.
1538
A new Emperor is chosen, Ferdinand I of Bavaria. I have now raised my relations with the Knights, completed the mission and got back the modifier. My next mission is to fortify Nizhny-Novgorod.
I match the requirements to enact the national decisional "Protect Domestic Trade" which will last for fifty years and increases the Trade Appeal of my CoT, basically making more likely for provinces to trade in it. This in exchange for a reduced chance of competing abroad, but, as you know, that's not a big deal for us. I verified empirically that my CoT will rise from a 280 value to 320 in the next few years.
1539
In September we get a Call to Arms from Poland and we accept. It could be nice to convert Pommerania but we cannot sign peace with them because Venice is war leader; anyway Poland is winning the war so no need for us to get involved, I just send some economic help.
Rzhev embraces the true faith and this is now our consolidated religious situation:
In October war breaks out in the heart of the Empire, polarising countries around their different faiths. Our ally Brandenburg DOWs Pommerania with the usual Conquest CB; Duke Joachim calls immediately Austria and Munster to his support, but not us. Brandenburg stays war leader so we might get eventually called into this conflict. Pommerania is helped by the Palatinate, Trier, Wurttemberg, Ansbach, Saxony and the Emperor himself, who becomes war leader for his field. As it's Catholic vs Protestant it seems like a religious war in miniature… Too bad we cannot join the fray yet!
In December my fortifications in Nizhny Novgorod are complete and my next mission is to Colonise the barbaric land of Pensa, which is on my list of things to do when I will fight again the Kazan Horde. The reward is 2 extra Colonists.
1540-1541
The truce with Muscowy expires and it's time for us to end their sufferings. Sadly nobody helps them. The war is one way:
Yes, 8BB is a lot, but our period of crazy expansionism is ending and Muscowy is a very valuable province.
A few days later I get a nice Event which will give us some extra cash:
In 1541 Gelre becomes (diplomatically) a Vassal of England, which gives the Emperor the Foreign Interference CB on them. However the Emperor has other things to worry at the moment… Saxony is subjugated by Brandenburg and it's reduced to their Vassal. Austria is breaking the bavarian line, but, judging from the sheer numbers, the Emperor is recruiting a bunch of mercenaries in the Demesne. He also calls for the very annoying Imperial Tax; it's an Imperial Decision available after the Circuits are established under some conditions, who are however levied when the Empire is in a state of emergency, like when the Emperor is at war with religious enemies. This decision will give the Emperor a bunch of gold, but all the Imperial provinces will have a steep 20% Direct Tax reduction for a few years. In our case this only involves our original provinces (except Wenden) because the others don't belong to the HRE.
Before the end of 1541 I sign a white peace with Venice.
1542
During the next years I will be building Counting Houses (+20% local production efficiency) in my most productive provinces (starting with Novgorod of course). It's a good investment in itself I think and it also opens the way to the highest level production buildings.
In the Empire the Catholics are not able to achieve victories in the Netherlands and the rest of the Demesne, but something happens to change the tide of the conflict. France starts a war of reconquest against the Emperor, bringing one of the best armies in the world with itself!
It would be nice to intervene at this point, but Brandenburg is not calling me.
I also get a Level 2 Army Reformer that I use to replace my Level 3 Natural Scientist.
1543
The Teutons are now in our sphere of influence.
|n May I finally get a CTA from Brandenburg against, Bavaria, Ansbach, Trier and Wurttemberg… It was about time! I accept and prepare my forces for the long march west, but before that I recruit a General from my 95% MT pool… As expected I get a 5/6/5/1 military genius, Thomas Pahlen. About the forces I can spare for this conflict, I need 10k of my men at home to put down revolts, but this allows me to send 15k to beat the Emperor up.
You can see in the diplomatic mapmode what is the situation of our allies and enemies. Austria was pushed back from the Bavarian cores, but this is about to change as the Emperor's attention turns west again. Our first goal is to make sure Austria's new attack succeeds so the destination for my 1st Army is Sudety.
We arrive at our destination five months later, but it seems Austria is doing well by itself. We join the sieges of Ansbach, Munchen (the Imperial capital) and Schwaben, just before this one falls.
You can see Austria has spread its forces to siege Wurttemberg and Konstanz as well. The situation here it's under control. It appears the Emperor has still got a consistent army, but it's fighting France in the west.
Oh, in the rest of the World the Ottomans enter yet another war to conquer Albania, which is protected as usual by England… Man, the English really saved the day so many times in the Balkans… For now it seems they don't need our help anyway; because England is Papal Controller as well, a crusade against the Turks is renewed.
1544
Brandenburg negotiates a White Peace with Wurttemberg in January and with Ansbach in April; probably it would have taken a long time anyway before their capital fell. On the western front from what I can tell the Emperor and France are evenly matched for now. However Austria is frightened or maybe doesn't see any gain in this conflict and signs a white peace with the Emperor! Cowards!
To avoid losing the ground our coalition gained in the heart of the Empire, I leave 3k soldiers to continue the siege of Munchen while the remaining 12k move quickly to assault the forts Austria just left. Thanks to their small garrisons and our good leader, we re-take control of the situation:
My personal warscore against the Emperor is still very low because the Demesne is so big. I can't see a window to convert the Emperor, but I have another plan for the glory of the Pope. After having a look at the Electors, I choose my victim:
My goal is of course to convert the Electors of the Palatinate and Cologne. I am already at war with the Emperor so I can move freely for the Empire, but the same is not true for my enemy… If the situation becomes bad against Bavaria, I can still negotiate a peace with the Emperor and ask for military access to a few countries to continue the war. The real bad thing about this is that recovering one Stab at the moment takes 20 months… But the opportunity to convert the Electors without worrying too much about the Emperor is too good to let it pass!
My troops were already positioned close to my enemies, I don't waste time with Trier (I can't convert them because I am not war leader of that conflict) and our enemies, divided, are defeated in the open field.
In September most of my targets are under siege:
What's left is to reinforce the siege of Koln (it's a Level 3 Fort) and spare 2k troops for Aachen. That Imperial City has a Level 3 Fort so I don't expect it to fall but I need to kill any freshly spawned enemy regiment, because my forces are spread thin and the tide could turn quickly.
As you can see Pfalz is under siege by France (well, it will never fall as it has a Level 3 Fort) so for now I don't need to send anybody there. Franken is the last province belonging to the Palatinate and it's still besieged by around 5k Rebels so it can wait for now…
However, just before the end of the year, Franken falls and the rebel stack moves to Oberpfalz, that we are currently occupying. Those pesky rebels…
France seems to be getting the upper hand in the west, the numbers of the Emperor are shrinking.
In the rest of the world, Poland finally vassalise Mazovia and signs peace with Venice.
1545
In January the Imperial capital, Munchen, falls in our hands! My 3 regiments over there can carefully avoid the rebels and begin to siege Franken:
As you can see, a new rebel uprising breaks out in Oberpfalz and the rebels start fighting each other. Losers. However, what's left is a 7k stack which still is too strong for my forces in the area.
In April Westfalen falls and I can send some troops to regroup and deal with those rebels. Brandenburg is finally pushing through the Netherlands and France has occupied Picardie.
In May we get to Land Tech 19 (+0.25 Morale is always good) and I face the rebels. It's a difficult battle but superior cavalry and morale gives us victory against superior numbers and leadership:
In June I can concede defeat to Aachen to free some troops (shameful I know). In the same month, Worms falls. I also get the Tentative Acquiescence event in Moskva which was expected, but always good news.
In September I can move another step towards Centralisation (now that slider is balanced), getting a Large Revolt event, which anyway my Grandmaster and his forces can deal with.
In October Bavaria is almost defeated by combined attacks of France and our coalition:
Yes, our Vassal Ryazan is helping too. Also, I have enough forces to spare for Pfalz (Level 3 Fort).
Thanks to our Centralisation reforms, our Administrative Efficiency has improved and our Administrative Level goes back from Distracted to Inefficient (the first negative level).
Before the end of the year, we occupy Franken. Now, what's left is the two Electors' capitals…
1546
The Emperor bows his head in defeat:
Imperial power in the area has been dramatically reduced. We have to get military access from some countries to move our troops around, but it's ok.
The sieges are going to last a while… Without artillery and at this level of tech, Level 3 Fort are really tough. Still, we can wait…
1547
In October, both sieges are at 100% progress, but still they won't surrender…
In December Poland DOWs Crimea (Tribal Conquest) and CTA us. We accept and simply make sure that no enemies can invade us or Ryazan, placing our 10k stack in Tula. Enemy leader is Morocco, which is in turn DOWed by Portugal, using the Imperialism CB of SRI, available to countries who embraced a colonial NI against enemies in other continents with a much smaller army.
1548
Finally, after two bloody assaults:
And the Electors can see the light:
A similar proposal was accepted by Cologne of course, in the joy of the moment I forgot to save the screenshot… Now, four Electors out of seven are Catholics! This seems good for us and the world (and for those Austrian cowards especially).
The long (triumphal) journey back home begins for our army.
During the rest of the year, Poland and Lithuania are winning the war against the infidels and we can sign a white peace with Morocco..
I think I can spare a screenshot for a political view of Livonia:
1549
However we are soon called to arms again, this time by England, which is still fighting Ottomans and Mameluks (now in an apparently strong alliance which doesn't bode well for Christianity). We get the Crusade bonus and send some economic help to England.
Feudal Monarchies around the world start reforming in Administrative ones. The times are changing…
Now, this is why Estates are annoying:
I prefer to avoid getting those negative modifiers because IIRC they make more likely for other bad events to happen. Plus, eventually, I would like to move towards Plutocracy so a compromise between our government and the Estates is not too bad. Notice that Pskov Aristocracy policy is increasing by 1, making more difficult for this kind of conflict to happen again in future. In fact this Event had origin from a discrepancy between our sliders and those belonging to our House of Estates. Similar conflicts can happen over, for example, Serfdom/Free Subjects or Decentralisation/Centralisation sliders.
In October Poland gets Kharkov and Cherson from Crimea in a peace treaty, definitely crawling east like a snake…
1550
We sign a White Peace with the Ottomans. I am currently building Counting Houses and Level 2 Forts in my most vulnerable provinces.
1551
Aragon enters a PU with Savoy and it's now ruled by their Duke. After a beginning so promising…
1552
Before concluding this update, a South America view after the last war conducted by Castille against the Incas:
The country in Trinidad is Brittany.
And in the bottom-right corner, England colonial empire (they still haven't picked up Quest for the New World).
To finish in glory, in 1552 a new Emperor is chosen:
All for nothing?
Hey, wait a second..! The Palatinate has not yet switched to the rival of the Emperor (Austria), curse them! I suppose that, on a tie, the current Emperor wins. So, for now, an Heretic still sits on the Imperial Throne. Will this dark age ever end? To be continued on the next update!