CAARolus Rex - A Swedish AAR

[Herbert West]

Nice AAR

By the way, do you really have a ruling dynasty titled "Night and day"?

[Cpl Wilding]

Herbert West: If what my limited Swedish is right, then yes. It's an amazing dynasty name and I love it.

Now, back to the AAR.

I combined my two armies (which I foolishly didn't put in the same province before the DoW) to form a 13k army and began marching towards Ingermanland, where Novgorod was assaulting me.


Within mere days, Novgorod had taken the province, and Moscow was quickly coming with a 15k army (!) for backup, with a higher land tech.


Even though they were out of morale, I only inflicted minimal casualties on the Novgorodian army. They retreated to Estland, and I of course followed.



After beating them around a second time, I followed them straight back to Estland.


But suddenly, Pommerania declared war. Minus two points for yelling an expletive when I saw it.


As I was fighting the Russians in Ingermanland, Oskar I died, leaving the incompetent moron Karl VIII Johan Natt och Dag (say that five times fast) to rule over Sweden. I didn't dare make him a commander, I can't have my army bogged down by an incapable leader!


Thankfully, however, his heir had great military skills.


With no choice, and being assaulted by Pommerania in Sweden proper, I called upon Scotland to help. (Spoiler alert - they did nothing but blockade the ports Pommerania had taken)


I think I either defeated the Novgorodian army or stopped to take Estland. Either way, I went back to Ingermanland with Novgorod distracted by the upper Finnish lands.


Meanwhile, Norway accepted a peace deal from Castille, where they ceded Bergenshus and annulled their alliance with Denmark and paid 20 ducats. This Spanish influence in Norway would be something I'd have to sort out later.


Meanwhile, I recovered rightful lands, while the Muscovite army of terror and pain approaches. With no other choice and with dangerously low morale, I had to fight my way out.



Meanwhile, Pommerania had taken Halland, and were working on Skane. It wouldn't be long before they fell.


As the Muscovites assaulted Ingermanland, I allowed my men to rest and regain losses and morale.


I wasted no time in recruiting a general from the noble ranks. He wasn't the best, but I'm guessing he would've been a hell of a lot better than Karl VIII Johan and so on and so on.


As I was fighting Moscow, the Germans moved their focus to Halland, then quickly took it too.


And here, ladies and gentlemen, we have a brilliant display of the Scots doing absolutely nothing. No army came ashore, nothing. They only stopped the Pommeranians from using their navy.


Meanwhile, my fight in Ingermanland was going disastrously bad while Neva was once again under assault.



With this latest battle a clear reason that this war was absolutely pointless, I called for white peace, which was accepted by all sides.


1494 began with another bailiff complaint.


I then flooded Lubeck with Swedish merchants, who quickly established a 5-merchant trade ring there.


Land tech went up to 10, finally. This would've helped immensely during the last war.


With a bit extra in my budget, I sent a missionary to Neva so I could increase my revenue.


The World, Whenever I stopped (Will check later, at least 1494)

[Cpl Wilding]

Here we are with our new war analysis, and Sweden's first major loss in a war since the Danish War of Reunification. The problems in this war came down to sloppy planning, low tech and unreliable allies.

THE PROBLEMS

#1 - No prep beforehand
I didn't even bother to arrange my armies prior to the DoW. This was a noob mistake, and one I should've avoided. Because of it, Novgorod got the headstart on me and took Ingermanland almost right off the bat.

#2 - Scotland did NOTHING
I can't begin to describe how much this drove me crazy. Scotland didn't even so much as send their navy over until after Pommerania had already taken two provinces. On top of that, they didn't even send an army. It drove me absolutely insane.

#3 - Low tech
I had level 9 land tech to Muscovy's probable 10 or 11. I simply had no chance of standing up to them, plain and simple.

No victories in this war...as there was no victory. Only defeat for Sweden. Will this mean that Sweden's enemies will now begin assaulting her, seeing her as weak? Only time will tell.

[MrQwerty]

I didn't even bother to arrange my armies prior to the DoW. This was a noob mistake, and one I should've avoided. Because of it, Novgorod got the headstart on me and took Ingermanland almost right off the bat.

I agree with your point here. Win the war before fighting the first battle. Too bad that your opposition overwhelmed you. Good luck next time .

[dragonizer]

Live and learn, but you didn't lose anything but time.
I trust you will be better prepared next time hang in there.

[Chief Ragusa]

Indeed the main thing was you didn't lose any land. The Scots mayhave done more had you called them in from the start. You could try allying wit hthe Teutonic Order. They're a most impressive size. Castille and France look like they'll square off soon. England's had to release land and a province to the French

[Cpl Wilding]

I agree with your point here. Win the war before fighting the first battle. Too bad that your opposition overwhelmed you. Good luck next time .

Indeed. The big kick in the teeth was Moscow's huge army and high land tech. I hadn't expected that, especially when they'd been fighting the GH for so long.

Indeed the main thing was you didn't lose any land. The Scots mayhave done more had you called them in from the start. You could try allying wit hthe Teutonic Order. They're a most impressive size. Castille and France look like they'll square off soon. England's had to release land and a province to the French

I had an alliance with them earlier in the game, but dishonored their call to war against Poland, who was allied with Novgorod, Anhalt, Tver and Saxe-Lauenburg. I didn't quite fancy fighting against German states with higher land and naval tech and against Novgorod at the same time, so I decided to toss the alliance. I may be able to persuade France to join me, but who knows what they'll do...

And there's no doubt in my mind Castille and France are going to fight. Castille only need Barcelona to form Spain, which the French are keeping as an Aragonese vassal. That, coupled with their vassals and alliances in Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Northumberland might be the only thing stopping them from declaring war.

[blsteen]

Ouch.
An interesting game so far and as for the analysis. Lower tech and the Russians with their better cav but also too, the Navy. Naval dominance of the Baltic is a key late early game situation. With it, you can keep hostile forces from your shores, without it...Especially when coupled with blockades. Is simply trouble.
Always nice to see a player grapple with defeat and come out with a plan.

[historybuff22]

This is a great story.

It is helping me learn more about the game.

[Ashantai]

One important thing as blsteen says is to gain control of the Baltic. If you do that it's much harder for the enemy to cross from Finland to Stockholm - they instead have to take a 2-3 month round trip through the frozen north.

Nice update though!

[Cpl Wilding]

We restart our journey in 1495 with a look at our finances and tech level...

Not bad, but we can definitely do better. The focus in land tech is one that I will want in order to gain any kind of advantage over my enemies, especially Russia and Denmark.

Meanwhile, the Austrians seemed to inherit every throne they got their hands on.


In an effort to reduce costs (by a whole .1 ducat no less!) I dismantled my galleys in preparation to rebuild them as carracks. I knew facing a modern Germanic navy would be nothing with the outdated ships in port.


Down south, the once-mighty Byzantine empire fell even more spectacularly as Hungary began gobbling up the Golden Horde.


In November, I offered an alliance to Luneburg (who, you'll remember, is my vassal) and Castille (who, you'll remember, is not my vassal). Castille declined, but Luneburg of course accepted without fail. Neva was also cleansed of Orthodox heresy.


Then, the liberals grew angry. Wanting to make a push for innovative anyways, I gave in to their demands.


Meanwhile, Norwegian patriots funded by Norway rose up. Not to be outdone, I supported some rebels of my own in Bohuslan...



They of course succeeded, but no rebels appeared. In May, stability went up, putting me back at +3.


Austria soon declared war on Hungary to take back a core province. It didn't last terribly long, which surprised me given the size of the two empires.


Post-war. Hungary gave up Pressburg.

Castille soon offered an alliance, which I instantly accepted. Castille also soon asked me for help...which I also accepted, knowing the risks.



The rebels in Edislava defeated my army and also took the province, forcing nationalism for ten years. In addition, my meager 6k army went up against the Teutons, with disastrous results.

[Cpl Wilding]

Splitting the update...please hold...update split complete. Update uploading.

Soon after the call to arms, Brandenburg reformed, no longer under France.


After a slight delay, I reorganized my army and counterattacked in Savolax, defeating the Teuton army, and chased them to Kexholm, where destruction was likely.


A saint performed a miracle. I didn't want to take a step back, so I took the rise in stability even though I didn't need it.


Hey! Annihilation was likely!


Update paused because steam gave me an error when I was sorting screenshots. Restarting and will finish update then.

UPDATE RESTARTING!

Poland declared war soon after I jumped in, providing another vice against the Order.


However, Castille soon got itself involved in another war, this time against Portugal. I, of course, was called to help. There was no chance in hell I was going to drop this alliance, so I braced myself for the inevitable English and Dutch assault.



Oh dear lord...


Thankfully Castille got me out of the war with the Order, allowing me to focus on the highly superior English and Dutch armies.


...Scheiβe.


Soon after, the Protestant movement begins! ....in Galicia?


Alternate title for this update: "How to Relieve an EU3 Player of His Constipation"

[PdoxNewbie]

Sub'd.

[blsteen]

Would have kept the galleys as in the Baltic coupled with some carracks they are somewhat effective (note the somewhat)
Getting something out of the TO would have been good but the Portugal War is going to drag you down. The English and Dutch are going to overwhelm you while Castille punches out the Portugese and then takes half their country leaving you with dead soldiers, looted provinces and double digit war exhaustion. But maybe that's just me. And in any case building a fleet to hold the Katt against the English (probably top three naval power), Portugal (top five), Dutch (probably a decent fleet) just isn't in the cards for now. A Fleet to hold the line against the Danes and Pommeranians is a necessity. Plus nice to see the Protestants popping up.

[Ashantai]

Your only hope is to let the English eat attrition and scorch the provinces they're besieging and hope that combined with winter makes them give up.

[Tyhr]

Seems interesting. It's hard to succeed with sweden so I look forward to seeing how you do.

[Cpl Wilding]

1498 picks up in July 9th, with Holland having 14 land tech, England with 11, and myself with 10. Holland also has a stack about 14k large in Halland, with the English attacking with an 11k stack in Vasterbotland. My 13k army was up in Vasterbotten, coming back from the eastern war with the TO. After mere days, England took Vasterbotland and moved on to Skane, while Holland annoyingly stayed put. I was eager to do practically anything to get out of this war, even so much and give up my Luneburg vassal and my core on Gotland.


Thankfully, the Portuguese had mercy and allowed me out of the war. But the loss of a core in Gotland was definitely a heavy one. Meanwhile, Protestantism kept spreading (mainly in Finland and northern Sweden).



Converting to Protestant had a great deal of benefits, but I didn't want to murder my relations with Scotland and the Hansa, not to mention I'd have Catholic revolts popping up everywhere. I'll wait until more provinces revert to Catholic and convert then, to lessen the number I have to send missionaries to.


Suddenly, the nobility revolted. I was actually a bit afraid of this, but then...


I saw that they were all bark and no bite. No cavalry. It was almost insulting to send the army to crush them.


Meanwhile in Iberia...


I gained a move towards Aristocracy. I don't like rebels.


I decided it was time for the Swedish Army to fight again...against a much easier target.


Aquileia honoring the call wasn't surprising, but I was surprised by Denmark. Apparently defensive wars don't qualify under truce agreements...if I had declared on them, I would've taken a stability hit of 5.


With Denmark hopping in, I had to call for some bigger guns in the name of The Hansa.


Protestants...Protestants Everywhere!



Castille gave up the ghost against England and ceded Bergenshus. I'd have to either ally with England or take it back.


I'm not too sure what this means. Anyone care to give an explanation?


I began to attack the Danish army in Skane...and quickly lost. Oddly enough, after I recovered and fought them again, they asked for a white peace. I didn't get a screenshot of it for some reason.


Norway gave me an insultingly weak offer, so I declined and kept beseiging their cities.


Merchant Death. I like money, so my choice was obvious.


I will admit, this one cracked me up. Two Protestant rebel armies, sponsored by Galicia no less...fighting each other.


Once I took all of Norway, they were more than happy to accept being my vassal and giving up Bohuslan.


Another year, another slider change, this time towards Innovative.


April came up with increase in tech...but the problem is, with all of these buildings I have researched, I don't have the money to build them all. What's a Swede to do?


Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world...(That's Austria splitting Hungary, btw)


Prussia formed in 1503.


Aaaaaaand more Protestants. I need to get a religious map up.


And the next year, my only good general died. Why do the great die so young?


Map coming with next update, though I think you can guess on the rest of the known world from this update...

[Ashantai]

Most of your provinces must be Protestant now, right?

Nice update. Still fighting the good fight against overwhelming odds!

[Cpl Wilding]

Before the main update, I'm gonna pop up the world and religious map from the start of the savegame (3rd February 1504)




Keeping these in mind, the next installment of CAARolus Rex is incoming!

[Herbert West]

Convert!