I really, really wanted to try and write my first AAR.
So I decided to try and pick Naples, which is a kingdom I've played over and over and that I can handle decently.
Until I saw that after a disastrous war with sweden, novgorod was forced to release Finland as a sovereign state.
Since this opportunity comes extremely rarely, I decided to seize the day and make the most out of this.
RULES
-no cheats, unless you will allow me to get some extra colonists (i will explain later why)
-No save/reload, not even in the face of death
GOALS
-Reach proper Finland and conquer it
-Create Greater Finland
I am playing EU III chronicles, with the Death and Taxes mod.
Let's Begin!
CHAPTER I
Year 1356
King Juha I Soop
A look at the map
There's not really much to see here
Thank God, despite being pagans we're in the western group
The sliders are not the best, but we can work on it
Juha was in Nöteborg, promptly renamed Pähkianälinna in Finnish, assisting his general Vieno Alqhvist in the training of the first finnish army
"Are our soldiers any good?"
"It's not like we really have a choice sir. All able bodied men in the nation were conscripted. We really can't afford to be picky"
Juha nodded heavily.
"The swedes called us to war, haven't they?"
"They did. The request for help in the war against Tanska came together with the declaration of Friendship and Independence"
"Looks like we have no choice"
"The swedes see us as a buffer state between the ryssät and them. However nobody is going to treat a bunch of pagans nicely in Europe"
"Best luck against the danes. I will start looking into our country's finances"
There weren't any competent men able to support Finland at the time, nor there was enough money to pay them.
Thus the king decided to just issue letters to the tribal chiefs of every town and asked for more taxes in order to support the army in the war.
Monetary support for the finnish colony in Karelia was doubled, and the national focus was moved there.
Military access through the swedish kingdom was granted, and the finnish troops were on the march.
A letter came from Vieno
"King Juha
The swedes have sent us a map of their kingdom and the surroundings. I assume this will help us greatly in the struggle".
A map was a meager gift, but it was better than nothing.
The finns found themselves unable to cross the strait of Ahvenanmää, blockaded by the danish navy, and had to spend a long time idle in the area called "proper Finland"
After laughing at the ludicrous name the swedes gave to the area, the finnish knights started thinking how nice would have it been to have their very own fleet
Somebody else took pity in the small kingdom of Finland
Stability reached +2, and, given the fact that they couldn't have helped the swedes in any way, the Finns decided to go home.
The finnish population agreed to keep paying more taxes to the central government, in order to help the establishment of the karelian colony
The finns don't care about whatever happens between two consenting adults in a bedroom, especially if the positive results are an heir to the throne
However, things weren't going so great.
Inflation was increasing by 1 point every year, the finances were at a loss, and norway declared war on sweden.
In turn, Scotland declared war on Norway, so each party had to face a war on two fronts
The 12th of August 1358, the finances were in positive again. The king decided to keep minting and saving the money for a rainy day
Luck finally smiled upon Finland: a traveling minstrel came knocking on the finnish king's door, curious to learn the ways of the finnish people.
The king granted him the possibility to stay at his court and to consult the religious leaders, bearers of the ancestral knowledge of the finns.
An happy minstrel means sure money for the finns
The same year, Sweden and Norway signed a white peace
New allies! Who would've thought!
(I am sorry for not taking the screenshot of the alliance proposal, I clicked on accept because i was overjoyed)
Meanwhile the swedish army was beaten by the danes, and horror ensued when the dutch landed in the Neva region.
The capital fell quickly into dutch hands, and the prestige was as low as ever.
This spelled disaster for the finnish finances, who were mostly reliant on the neva area.
The knights moved to the area and tried to recapture it
The entire swedish kingdom was under fire, and yet the king was stubborn enough not to give in.
The danes arrived in neva, slaughtering the sieging knights.
This meant bankruptcy, but we were lucky enough not to lose any land
And the swedes were kind enough to offer us a new alliance
The end of the danish wars left Finland broken, penniless, and besieged by pretenders.
Will Finland survive this?
So I decided to try and pick Naples, which is a kingdom I've played over and over and that I can handle decently.
Until I saw that after a disastrous war with sweden, novgorod was forced to release Finland as a sovereign state.
Since this opportunity comes extremely rarely, I decided to seize the day and make the most out of this.
RULES
-no cheats, unless you will allow me to get some extra colonists (i will explain later why)
-No save/reload, not even in the face of death
GOALS
-Reach proper Finland and conquer it
-Create Greater Finland
I am playing EU III chronicles, with the Death and Taxes mod.
Let's Begin!
CHAPTER I
Year 1356
King Juha I Soop
A look at the map
There's not really much to see here
Thank God, despite being pagans we're in the western group
The sliders are not the best, but we can work on it
Juha was in Nöteborg, promptly renamed Pähkianälinna in Finnish, assisting his general Vieno Alqhvist in the training of the first finnish army
"Are our soldiers any good?"
"It's not like we really have a choice sir. All able bodied men in the nation were conscripted. We really can't afford to be picky"
Juha nodded heavily.
"The swedes called us to war, haven't they?"
"They did. The request for help in the war against Tanska came together with the declaration of Friendship and Independence"
"Looks like we have no choice"
"The swedes see us as a buffer state between the ryssät and them. However nobody is going to treat a bunch of pagans nicely in Europe"
"Best luck against the danes. I will start looking into our country's finances"
There weren't any competent men able to support Finland at the time, nor there was enough money to pay them.
Thus the king decided to just issue letters to the tribal chiefs of every town and asked for more taxes in order to support the army in the war.
Monetary support for the finnish colony in Karelia was doubled, and the national focus was moved there.
Military access through the swedish kingdom was granted, and the finnish troops were on the march.
A letter came from Vieno
"King Juha
The swedes have sent us a map of their kingdom and the surroundings. I assume this will help us greatly in the struggle".
A map was a meager gift, but it was better than nothing.
The finns found themselves unable to cross the strait of Ahvenanmää, blockaded by the danish navy, and had to spend a long time idle in the area called "proper Finland"
After laughing at the ludicrous name the swedes gave to the area, the finnish knights started thinking how nice would have it been to have their very own fleet
Somebody else took pity in the small kingdom of Finland
Stability reached +2, and, given the fact that they couldn't have helped the swedes in any way, the Finns decided to go home.
The finnish population agreed to keep paying more taxes to the central government, in order to help the establishment of the karelian colony
The finns don't care about whatever happens between two consenting adults in a bedroom, especially if the positive results are an heir to the throne
However, things weren't going so great.
Inflation was increasing by 1 point every year, the finances were at a loss, and norway declared war on sweden.
In turn, Scotland declared war on Norway, so each party had to face a war on two fronts
The 12th of August 1358, the finances were in positive again. The king decided to keep minting and saving the money for a rainy day
Luck finally smiled upon Finland: a traveling minstrel came knocking on the finnish king's door, curious to learn the ways of the finnish people.
The king granted him the possibility to stay at his court and to consult the religious leaders, bearers of the ancestral knowledge of the finns.
An happy minstrel means sure money for the finns
The same year, Sweden and Norway signed a white peace
New allies! Who would've thought!
(I am sorry for not taking the screenshot of the alliance proposal, I clicked on accept because i was overjoyed)
Meanwhile the swedish army was beaten by the danes, and horror ensued when the dutch landed in the Neva region.
The capital fell quickly into dutch hands, and the prestige was as low as ever.
This spelled disaster for the finnish finances, who were mostly reliant on the neva area.
The knights moved to the area and tried to recapture it
The entire swedish kingdom was under fire, and yet the king was stubborn enough not to give in.
The danes arrived in neva, slaughtering the sieging knights.
This meant bankruptcy, but we were lucky enough not to lose any land
And the swedes were kind enough to offer us a new alliance
The end of the danish wars left Finland broken, penniless, and besieged by pretenders.
Will Finland survive this?
