Ireland's Teardrop

[Avindian]

I just love the patchwork British isles (excuse me, Irish isles) and the absence of France! That also looks like a pretty awesome Norway.

If you can form Great Britain, do you intend to? (I hope the answer is no, for my part )

[tamius23]

Only countries with English or Scottish primary culture can form GB. I don't think Ireland, Wales, or Brittany can.

[CivandEUIII]

well why would he want to form Great Britain anyway? That's kinda ruining everything: "I survive as Ireland but whatever I'm going to form GB" is a bit weird for such a great country isn't it?

[loki100]

don't form GB, pity there is no tag for Great Ireland though. Apart from Scotland, you do seem to have made the local neighbourhood safe for Ireland and now have some pretty useful alliances too

[Ashantai]

Scotland looks like it's going to be taking the place of England as the big boy in the British Isles. Meanwhile, that's a big Castille, I can see them forming Spain quite soon if they can get the last province from Aragon.
Nicely done!

[EktorGomes]

I wuuuuv this aar!

[Sweboy]

I don't think I have ever seen England this chopped up. Which is the sixth nation that has taken a chunk of England? The others are Ireland, Brittany, Northumbria and Scotland. Was it the Portuguese?

[Malurous]

I don't think I have ever seen England this chopped up. Which is the sixth nation that has taken a chunk of England? The others are Ireland, Brittany, Northumbria and Scotland. Was it the Portuguese?

Looks like the Hansa to me.

[LAAT501legion]

Awesome AAR,I have never seen Ireland so succesful.

[Tjena Med Laxen]

A strong rival on the british mainland, Scotland or England, should be quite nice and healthy as an opponent in the long run, for the sake of the AAR. I hope you don't break them too soon. Great writing as usual Safferli!

[safferli]

Arakhor

Hehe, well, it's not my fault if your favourite countries get too strong for my liking!

Hastu Neon

Burgundy is indeed a bit scary, especially since they're the HRE. Denmark on the other hand, I do not fear: They're too far away, and our interests are in completely different parts of the world. As long as I manage to keep a decent navy up and running, Denmark is free to do whatever it pleases.

I agree on the Brittany analysis. Currently, I have Castille and Britanny as allies, and I intend to keep it that way for a long time. They're both very useful. Scotland has outlived its purpose, as now England is weak enough for my liking.

Malurous

Yep, Scotland is the new England, and I need to do something about them sooner rather than later.

Monzon

Well, in some games the BBB does not survive. A pity, I had kind of banked on them taking down England a bit in the beginning!

Avindian, tamius23, CivandEUIII, loki100

Yep, I'm very happy with my alliances now. Also, with all the wars I "helped" Castille with, they must trust me utterly by now.

Ashantai

Oh yes, Scotland is my current worry. Especially since I now have provinces on the English island which can be attacked easily.

EktorGomes

Oh... you make me blush... glad you like it!

Sweboy, Malurous

It is indeed The Hansa. They decided that they'd join the fun and DoWed England in the last war.

LAAT501legion

Thank you, but you are too kind: There are other AARs for more successful, and other players far better than me

Tjena Med Laxen

I do prefer to keep my enemies down, so that I don't have to worry too much. I'm not that good a player to be able to fight big, strong enemies

[safferli]

Chapter 21: Mistakes are made...


Cathaoir Dongan is the first ruler of Ireland to survive an attempt to displace him from the throne. No doubt, his many high-ranking advisors have helped him, seeking to keep their position in court.

Cathaoir uses his rule to allow his subjects more freedom, and also forces monetary policies that help stabilise the Irish economy. The Irish economy is flourishing, nearly exclusively due to trade.

One of the court advisors writes a particularly widely-read tractatus on government policies. Since we are content with our NI collection, we do not exploit the event to change NIs, but rather pick the (more or less useless for us) Prestige option. Still, a bonus to government tech investments is always nice.

Ireland's income in 1494 is third in the world, only Castille and Burgundy have higher income.

Speaking of Castille... more diplomats arrive, asking for Irish help in yet another war. We accept, and follow the Old Irish Alliance Doctrine again.

After a more aggressive expansion of trade, Ireland's income rises to second in the world, second only to Castille.

Then, a more serious alliance call arrives. Brittany requests our help against England and Scotland. Here, we wish to keep Brittany as ally so need to accept. Also, since we own provinces and a vassal in England proper, we cannot follow the Old Irish Alliance Doctrine. With great regret, the king orders the army to follow the New Irish Alliance Doctrine.

I missed taking a screenshot of the first battle... Irish Historians do not speak of this war in their history books. The Irish expeditionary forces were attacked by a combined English and Scottish army, and completely wiped out. 12,000 Irishmen were slain on the battlefields in Lancashire. The war had started as a complete disaster! (Note that we only have 6,000 men in our outliner)

At least the navy can defend our shores, giving us time to rebuild our forces. Some Hanseatic cogs show up in the Firth of Force, slightly annoying our blockading fleet.

The war overview. It's not going well for us, nor for the English side. Our WE is extremely high, due to the many lost regiments in the first battle.

We decided that the Old Irish Alliance Doctrine is superior, and offer Scotland a white peace. Let Brittany fight for themselves, the greedy bastards!

As it turned out, a big mistake... For why and what, return Wednesday, for the next episode of Ireland's Teardrop!

[Rabid]

Your pretty little vassal is going to get eaten now, methinks

[Malurous]

Yep, I also fear for Northumberland's safety...

[Ashantai]

Scotland has really displaced England as the big boss. Damn Brittany and their ceaseless wars!

[Avindian]

Who has the bulk of your army? Brittany? That's some scary stuff!

Keep up the good work!

[Hastu Neon]

Not so good about Scotland.

Just a question: what was the other option in Oisin O'Connell event giving you?
If I understand correctly, a troubleless change of National Ideas? (meaning no stab hit and no "reneging the past" event?)

That's good to know for my games, I didn't know about this possibility.
Due to the penalties, I'm generally scared about changing NIs ...

[Malurous]

Just a question: what was the other option in Oisin O'Connell event giving you?
If I understand correctly, a troubleless change of National Ideas? (meaning no stab hit and no "reneging the past" event?)

That's good to know for my games, I didn't know about this possibility.
Due to the penalties, I'm generally scared about changing NIs ...

No direct effect on NI's, but stability help. Great Man events (which can fire for any kind of advisor with five or six stars, but only once per advisor type in one game) have the options of the main effect (the government tech investment in this case) + 10 prestige or the main effect + 2 stability. Since changing a National Idea costs 3 stab, it's pretty common to practically reduce that to one by switching the Idea first, then getting +2 "back" by choosing the event option.

[Hastu Neon]

Ok, I understand. Thanks.

[safferli]

Rabid, Malurous

Yep, you got it...

Ashantai

Oh yes, Scotland is my biggest worry at the moment.

Avindian

No, somehow Burgundy is on our side. Being the HRE, Burgundy has more troops than brains.

Hastu Neon, Malurous

As explained by Malurous, the Great Men event gives you +2 stab, partially offsetting the -3 stab from a NI change. Not that stability is a problem for Ireland, it's only a couple of months at zero stab investments. Few provinces, all own culture/religion!