King Hopping AAR

Haha, yeah, post #65 is still in its normal, published format. To clarify, I'm trying to change the "title" of each post that I place at the top of the body section, because I messed up the numbering earlier (it should be Chapter 5).

Hallelujah! Post #65 has been edited! I don't know why, but this time it worked. With that hurdled cleared, you can expect the last Mameluks update soon (I've been engrossed in a Burgundy EUIII game for the past few days).

In the meantime remember to vote in the AARland Choice AwAARds. I know my AAR has been kinda mehhh so no hard feelings if you don't include it on your ballot, but I was PM'd by a Mod about this so voting is IMPORTANT.

Chapter 6: Mameluks (Part III)

(By "soon" I meant over a week)

Where we left off, the Timurids were coming over the border. Except they didn't. Persia had them preoccupied, so I just took the province that borders me and then got them to concede defeat.



Then, because I'm feeling lucky, I declare war on Castile.



I took all of the their North African provinces but Tunis, which the pesky Austrians got to first. I make the executive decision to sit around and hope the Austrians make peace with Castille soon.



A few months later, the ugly yellow splotches are removed from The Mameluks nice, beige map. Not included in the screenshot is my next mission; "Turn Taka into a city!" Taka is the province bordering Ethiopia to the north.



Next I take a slider move away from Serfdom and get my first positive slider event in, like...ever. I really need this; look at my inflation. 16.8!



Then I declare war on Crete.



And I annex it. If you remember, my Naples game was cut off right before Crete fell, so this feels like payback.



Castille released Aragon in the Balearic and Trebizond, both of which are OPM Catholic states, but guess who the defender of the faith is?

...

Yup.



Then I got the Agricultural Revolution event and took the money. My economy is like a ponzi scheme, and part of me hopes my king dies soon so that I can blame the AI when Egypt crumbles.



Taka grew into a city, and now I have my next mission. Conquer Silam! Sounds good to me...



Epic fail. I declared war on Persia, and then went to declare war separately on Hedjaz, Persia's ally. I forgot to break the military access AND sometime between the last screenie and this one, they allied with Karaman, the Ottoman replacements who have superior land tech to me (and I have no doomstacks in the neighborhood to defend that border, as those are ready to pour into Persia). Oh well, looks like I'll just be taking that one province off of Persia.



Of course, Hedjaz didn't even hoor their alliance with Persia, so my stack there is useless. Then Georgia declares a Holy War on me. Not...sure what they expect to accomplish.



Persia acquiesced easily enough. With that mission filled, my next is to colonize a Timurid province. It can wait.



Georgia was peaced out for some cores. But look, another horde threatening to invade...



I forced the Nogai to pay me tribute but am opting to colonize Gara Koyunlu's last remaining province rather than make peace with them.



Then the Timurids decided to come back over my border, which was convenient because of my current mission. I occupied their entire country and had almost incorporated the province for my mission when I got a tribal succession crisis. Hmm...maybe I should have changed the government type, to give the AI a chance? Too late for that now!



Here's the entire Mameluk realm, complete with rebels!



And this is Europe. Some highlights... Iberia is divided into four roughly-equal blocs; Portugal, Castile, Granada, and Navarra. L'Big Blue Blob lives up to its name. Gelre has replaced Brabant as the core of a possible Dutch nation. Switzerland has a tentacle extending northeast into the HRE.



Here is Asia. Pegu and Malacca have both formed solid nations, despite Vijay's expansion east (and west, they hold the Swaziland coast).



And finally, the world map on 6 March 1514.



Phew, that was quite an update. I think I'm right up to the edge of the picture/post limit.

Where to next?

In that case, Vijay it is!

Ashantai said:

Definitely Vijay.

For nation hopping games I'd play with inflation off personally, otherwise you end up with 10 or 15% every new nation.

Click to expand...

You're right, if I do this again, I will definitely turn inflation off.

Chapter 7: Vijayanagar (Part I)

I was dreading you guys would pick Vijay. Why? Have a look.







And so must begin the rebel slaughter. Lan Xang break away in their northern province, just as I was marching to liberate that area. Some good news, though, no more over-extension!



I took that province back, and proceeded to release the entire region as a vassal. I need that army to pacify India.



The most amazing event ever. +2 Stability FTW!!!



The Swahili coast broke free (my two remaining lands will defect to Mutapa soon). Frankly, I'm ok with this. I would rather have a solid Indian state then far flung colonies and a messy northern front.



Then Delhi broke free, just as I was playing ping-pong with that rebel stack.



I chose prestige over legitimacy in this event. Looking at the screenshot, do you guys think I made the right move?



Delhi capitulated. Pictured is the very last rebel stronghold (discounting those two African provinces). All rebel armies have been wiped off the map. I'm feeling pretty good so far.



I got this stupid event. Why would I want to support dissidents in an allied country? But the other option was a -2 stab hit, and I have no desire to go back to those days.



Another bad event. Again, the alternative was a stab hit.



Finally +3 stability. Compare this revolt map to the first one. The provinces that aren't green have missionaries proselytizing in them (you can see my mission is to convert a province).



I've had enough for today. The countryside has been pacified and, if the King hangs on for another few years, I should be able to begin expanding, perhaps to form Hindustan.