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Athalcor

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Aug 8, 2010
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Also known as 'Athalcor's try to write an AAR, vol.4'.

Prologue​

I have started writting and subsequently abandoned three AARs. Maybe the fourth try will finally pull through? I will try to keep this a simple, gameplay/bit narrative focused AAR so I will quickly advance and finish before I lose breath. Well...fingers crossed and let's go with the business!

I will be playing Beornia in V2:HoD, DoD mod (and some little modifications of mine). Without further ado, here is the opening post:

---------------------



Beornia is an interesting nation, founded by protestant English refugees fleeing from the Catholic Francophone dominated Angevin Empire.



They set up their new home here, in southern Ameriga, giving their settlements nostalgic lands like New Kent, Wessex or even Camelot (which is the seat of the King). Yes, King. Beornia is an absolute monarchy.

Our starting situation is...not really good. Our lands are dirt poor, we have no claims on others whatsoever allowing early expansion, our northern neighbour, Lotharingia is stronger and even though we start allied (a result of our assistance in their war for independence in the early 1810s), that might easily change. In the northwest we share border with the Inca Empire, which was ready to stand against the Spanish conquistadors thanks to meeting with Zheng He's treasure fleet earlier.



Speaking of Spain, their desperate try to quell the rebellion in their New World colonies is faltering. Even though they might not realise it yet, it is only a matter of time when the last European colony in the New World becomes independent. (well, at first I thought I would do an AAR as Spain but when I reannexed Gran Colombia, it turned out that the overseas upkeep would cripple my budget forever)



You might ask what makes Beornia interesting to play. It is the two decisions it can take when she becomes a great power. Either claim England and try to retake the old homeland from the Anglois usurpers or finally abandon its English nostalgia and instead form the Holy Britannian Empire, wreaking havoc throughout Ameriga.

-------------------



My opening move is to start expanding into the only sensible direction - south, against the only Amerigan nation that is weaker than us, the tribes of Purumauca. Their provinces even have English names - a sign that the game wants me to claim their territory.



But it seems that we are not the only ones keen to shed blood. It is the January 1st, 1836 and the world awakens to greet the new era...
 
Chapter One - Bullying the Natives

We ended the prologue with a Lotharingian call to arms against their much stronger and richer northern neighbour, the Amazonian federation (even though the name suggests it, almost no natives were involved in founding this ex-Anglo-French-colony state). Even though these frog-eating bastards (frogs in Amazonian rainforests have to be really tasty) deserve a proper beating, we are in no position to massacre our brave troops in pointless border frictions.

Anyway, we answer the call, just to see what's going on, i.e. the usual alliance business. There is the whole Lotharingia between us and the Amazonian armies, so hopefully we won't need to get involved.



In fact, as a part of our preparation of the war against Purumauca we disband the Royal Navy. Our income is so drastically low that we can't afford to support fishing boats so a Man o' War is completely out of question.

[video=youtube;TCDgmtLjrvo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCDgmtLjrvo[/video]
(not this Manowar)

Edit: Well, not a man o' war but a frigate, but still.



In April we finish fabricating our claim to the native lands. (I thought that we could just walk there and seize them but somehow the game engine demands us to have at least something in our hands. Other than guns, that is.)

We got caught for 2.7 infamy in the process but that does not really matter. What, on the other hand, matters, is the fact that
a. we can't annex them in one war
b. the only state we actually border on is the one they have capital in.

That sucks.



Anyway, war is declared and a month later we put an end to the natives' worries of protecting their lands by smashing their homeland militia. From now on, the only enemy we have to fight in their lands is the atrittion.



By Christmas we are nearing the total occupation of Purumauca while I notice we have lots of unemployed craftsmen in our land, mostly immigrants, though. I wonder, who would want to immigrate to an ultra-nationalistic puritan absolute monarchy? Well, to each his own, I guess.

The problem is that our ruling party is state capitalist and the others we can choose are either state capitalist or laissez faire. And I can't go laissez faire as I need to tax the poor 90% to get at least some surplus.



So I wait a bit and use my entire cash reserves to build one bakery in my capital. Awesome. (I decided to build bakery because grain is among the the things we actually do export. In exchange for real stuff like steel, ammo and so on.)



In the north the Lotharingians are happily raiding the Amazonian borderlands. Just wait till the republican guard arrives...



Meanwhile, I decide to expand our war against Purumauca as I want to annex them during the next round,



to which the helpless natives respond by giving up. I have effectively reduced them to a one-state-minor with only five year truce protecting them. Hopefully they won't do something crazy during that time, like allying with the Incas or such. They still hold English-named provinces so our casus belli is still valid and legitimate.



Even though the war brought us only another swath of poor lands, it had some benefits, too - for example, we discovered the true Land's End!



Well, someone seems to be happy we seized the land of their fellow Indians.
 
Looks interesting! Subbed.

BTW, what's the DoD mod? I'm not familiar.

Hi and thank you :).

DoD starts for Divergences of Darkness, an adaption of the only really successful alt-history mod for Vicky 2 I originally co-developed with Kinniken in 2010-11. But as eventually I was left alone to maintain it, I got overwhelmed by the work and bored in the process so I quit. Fortunately a group of the mod sympathisers (including Naselus, the PDM mod leader) carried it through AHD and, as I've recently found out, even to HoD (see link).

The world of Divergences is really rich and interesting and I will try to shed some light on it throughout the updates (as it is from a large part a brain child of mine, I have some vast knowledge about it ;) ). Anyway, glad to have you on board.

Btw, your USA AAR looks really well-done and I might give a go, even though the wall-o-text AARs are usually not my cup of coffee.
 
I've gotta read this one because the alt-history scenario is pretty unique, and judging by the title I'm guessing your overall goal is to found the Holy Britannian Empire? Love the Code Geass reference, too!

I take it Beornia is basically a weaker Argentina? What's your literacy and tech situation, and how big is your population? And for that matter, what's Tawantinsuyu's?
 
I've gotta read this one because the alt-history scenario is pretty unique, and judging by the title I'm guessing your overall goal is to found the Holy Britannian Empire? Love the Code Geass reference, too!

I take it Beornia is basically a weaker Argentina? What's your literacy and tech situation, and how big is your population? And for that matter, what's Tawantinsuyu's?

Welcome :). Yes, I would eventually like to form the HBE but I forgot to mention that I suck at playing this game thoroughly so it is very possible that I won't even make it to the GP status :p. The decision to form the HBE also has a catch in it but more about that later.

I would say that Beornia and Argentina are different beasts entirely but based on the position one could say Beornia is a weaker Argentina. (though I personally Lotharingia and Argentina to bear more similarities, e.g. color ;) )

If I take the 1836 starting data, then:
Beornia: absolute monarchy, 22 techs, 35% literacy, 260k(!) population, able to field 5 brigades
Tawantinsuyu: absolute monarchy, 14 techs, 5% literacy, 1.23M population, able to field 24(!) brigades
Lotharingia: presidential dictatorship, 22 techs, 26% literacy, 960k population, able to field 13 brigades
(and Amazonie: democracy, 28(!) techs, 27% literacy, 1M population, able to field 15 brigades)

-------

OT: About Code Geass: I have never really got into anime but last year I decided to give such series a spin. At that moment I knew only one candidate, Code Geass (one of the things I've discovered in these forums - the 'All Hail Britannia!' scene is often mentioned here ;) ). I enjoyed watching the show thoroughly...I hope to find some other anime similar to CG during the holidays for me to watch ;).

I also consider the option for Beornia to found the Holy Britannian Empire kind of fitting. She is an English-refugee country in the New World, with mostly pre-Norman influences and names like Avalon for the capital state, Camelot as the capital itself...
 
Chapter Three - I am not sure I am doing this right



Well, the Inca forces on our borders are followed by insults of our ambassador in Tawantinsuyu. That does not really look good. Even though the Inca Empire is just a partially civilized nation, their armies are much bigger and I would hardly fight them back if they decided to attack me.

I have already mentioned the Inca Empire survived the contact with the Europeans thanks to meeting Zheng He earlier. They maintained relations with the Chinese since then and even though the fall of the Ming Empire lead to the Chinese colonies losing touch with the Middle Kingdom, the Arcadian Chinese colonial state of Qingqiu is still allied with them. The Incas lost a lot of territory to the Spanish throughout the expansionist era but the recent decolonization of Ameriga might provide some opportunities for them to reclaim their core lands.

Note: For those not familiar with the DoD world, South America is named Ameriga in this timeline. North America is Arcadia (this timeline has seen a lot more classical influence, e.g. Illyria instead of Croatia, Etruria instead of Tuscany) and Australia is also often referred to as Zuharra (after the Chinese colonial kingdom of Zhourao present there).



...and here it is! Yeah, this is me finishing a sentence I've started in the middle of the last chapter. Seriously, I doubt the Lotharingians have any chance of winning their war at the moment.



The two armies engage in battle...



...and after a decisive Lotharingian defeat they hastily sign a white peace.



Meanwhile I finish researching the Steam Engine and use the increased income to field new regiments:



Hopefully I will soon have enough units to be able to take on our Lotharingian allies. But shh, that's a secret.



During the early 1839, the Incas continue to amass armies on our borders. I counter this move by raising our relations to 100. I do not really think they will attack us as we do not hold any of their desired land...I believe that they fear just we would unleash the might of our exile-British awesomeness.



Lotharingia feels that we betrayed them in the last conflict and breaks our alliance. I'm OK with that - after I deal with Purumauca, you are next on my list.



Yeah. Let's prepare the diplomatic soil.



I usually ignore the news outside of Ameriga but this caught my attention: after the failed invasion of Polish-controlled Prussia and the subsequent crushing retaliation of the Holy Roman Empire, the liberal Scandinavian Empire, one of the 'Big Four' European GPs collapses into an absolute monarchy.

By 'Holy Roman Empire' I mean Bohemia and its German spherelings together with the PLC which is also a member of the Bohemian sphere. The HRE and Scandinavia have always been mortal enemies, with Scandinavia hoping to turn the entire Baltic Sea into their dominion and Bohemia seeking to control everything from Curonia to the Netherlands. The last time they clashed, in the Great German War of the early 19th century (almost every European power was somehow involved in this conflict), Bohemia ended with the shorter end of the stick, was forced to surrender Pommerania to Scandinavia and lost a lot of influence in western Germany. But the invasion of Prussia was a big mistake of Copenhagen and as you can see, the results are dire.

-----------------


(ignore the flavor text of the event, it does not fit the recent changes in the setup)

Months fly and in 1841, the representatives of Gran Colombian substates gather in Andagoya to discuss the fate of the newly independent lands. Well, one shouldn't perceive Gran Colombia as a unitary nation till the Congress of Andagoya - the revolt against Spain was more of a sum of different uprisings than an organised resistance. The big question is: Will the fragile post-rebellion federation hold or shatter into small, meaningless countries?



In June we finish the Bill Printing research, boosting our tax income. Moar money!



Oh well. At the first glance it might look bleak for those who were rooting for the united Latinoamerigan federation as all of the provinces south of Andagoya declared independence but...well, it looks bleak even on the second glance as the interim president Francisco de Miranda refused to accept the shattering of the dream of his spiritual teacher, Simon Bolívar, and declared himself president-for-life of the remnants of the federation. But look on the bright sight of things: When we carve our way to the north Ameriga, it will be easier to take control of it.



One of the other interesting things except for Land's End I've discovered in the south is that Beornia actually has some unclaimed cores - the Scandinavian-controlled islands of Tapt-crossed-O. Oh, the irony.



In 1842, the Incas westernize...



...and immediately hit the warpath against the now disunited and weak statelets residing in the Ands.

Well_that_escalated_quickly.jpg
 
I've got a mixed record on this, but fingers crossed this is a blessing and not a curse - Congratulations you've won the Weekly AAR Showcase.

No excuse now not to push on and go for the Holy Britannian Empire.
 
Subbed.
 
I've got a mixed record on this, but fingers crossed this is a blessing and not a curse - Congratulations you've won the Weekly AAR Showcase.

No excuse now not to push on and go for the Holy Britannian Empire.

I hope that you won't lose your faith in this AAR (OTOH, if you believe it will get qualitatively better, be prepared to be let down). Also, it will be a considerable success for me if the entire AAR contains as many words as one chapter of 'The Butterfly Effect' :D.

P.S. If I don't manage to form the Empire, will I have to return the prize?


Hi and welcome :).

Subbed. I always wanted to see a DoD AAR.

Greetings :). Me too ;).
 
Chapter Three - From 1836 to 1936 in five days is something Jules Verne would write

You might be wondering why I've wasted the Ron Burgundy picture in the last chapter responding to something that does not look that much important. Well, it is. As the Incas now are the largest Amerigan country plus they have civilized, nothing could possibly stop them from gobbling up the Andean republics thus lowering even more my chance of beating them down.



As I have mentioned in the last chapter, the Scandinavians underwent a nasty revolution. But their downfall was far from over as in early 1843 Scotland declares independence. Scotland, of all places. Who would imagine that the Scottish would desire to secede from a state they helped to form? This surely is a time of unexpected changes.



The traditionalist government also fails to establish itself in the predominantly liberal empire and the government-in-exile succesfully breaks the naval defense of Copenhagen and restores the rightful king to the throne though only as a nominal head of state.



Meanwhile my truce with Purumauca ends and I immediately start to prepare to annex the rest of their territories. You can also see three other ongoing wars in the New World - it will take a long till the dust settles and we will see the winners of this timeline.



Two weeks after I begin claiming the Purumaucan territories, Tawantinsuyu takes over Arequipa and immediately attacks Quito. Oh well.



In July we are caught fabricating the claim in Patagonia and are 'granted' ten points of infamy. No one really cares. Watching the time fly I have started to think about other means of expansion...and actually there is one right behind our borders - the province of Grand Chaco, squeezed between the Incas and Lotharingia, can be colonised right after discovering one of the life rating inventions (I opt for Medicine and Prophylaxis against Malaria). Seizing it could eventually give me access to the heart of the continent and even though I am not really sure I want to be stretched out through the thin corridor, it is better to keep the window open.



As I am still planning to destroy Lotharingia, I need to outtech them if not outnumber. And hey - Army Professionalism makes it possible to discover horses! Cool.

gy_1836265c.jpg

(Beornian people are already looking forward to discover horses)



Late 1843 sees the start of the second invasion of the tribal federation to our south with glorious forces of commander Wood claiming the rest of Patagonia for Beornia in the name of God Almighty and our beloved king, Harold VII. Our army meets no real opposition and starts pacifying the territories. Truly a great achievement. At this rate -



Well, I think I will have to pause here for a moment.
 
I hope that you won't lose your faith in this AAR (OTOH, if you believe it will get qualitatively better, be prepared to be let down). Also, it will be a considerable success for me if the entire AAR contains as many words as one chapter of 'The Butterfly Effect' :D.

P.S. If I don't manage to form the Empire, will I have to return the prize?
As long as you try to form the Empire, or at least have a good reason you don't, I think your allowed to keep the prize. :D

The Incas do appear to be being inconsiderate, but I'd be more concerned about your nation's grasp of the sciences. First it was bakeries, now horses. You do have the technology for Fire and the Wheel don't you? Or are they next?
 
Congratulations on the showcase! This looks like a very interesting alt history scenario, with a considerable amount of research having gone into it. Looking forward to see how you cope with a great power breathing down your neck!
 
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Inca look scary. But it's their continent after all, you're only guests in their land.:)

Tapt Ö is Beornian. Take it off of Scandinavia in their moment of weakness lest you fight a needless war over it in 140 years.

Are you getting any immigrants, or is the whole Puritan absolute monarchy thing scaring everyone away? At least you managed to claim Patagonia from the natives there.

Even if taking the Chaco leads to your borders being both awful to look at and awful to defend, it does deny it to the Inca (or Lotharingia), and tropical wood is always a nice resource.
 
Interesting! :) I imagine turning Beorna into the Britannic Empire will be quite a feat to accomplish.
 
This is really cool! I came here from the EU4 forums and I'm really impressed :D
 
As long as you try to form the Empire, or at least have a good reason you don't, I think your allowed to keep the prize. :D

The Incas do appear to be being inconsiderate, but I'd be more concerned about your nation's grasp of the sciences. First it was bakeries, now horses. You do have the technology for Fire and the Wheel don't you? Or are they next?

And now consider our plan is to outtech Lotharingia :O.

Great Update, and congratulations on the showcase

Thank you and welcome :).

Congratulations on the showcase! This looks like a very interesting alt history scenario, with a considerable amount of research having gone into it. Looking forward to see how you cope with a great power breathing down your neck!

Thank you very much :). Glad to have you on board. Yes, Divergences are indeed something different than 'Hey, let's drop the Byzantine Empire in here coz it's cool!' We went along the lines 'Hey, let's drop the Inca Empire in here and now spend a week trying to justify how the heck they could have made it.'

And don't worry, the Kingdom of Beornia is a rising stAAR!


(I do not believe I did it)

Subbed. Very cool mod and AAR.

Thanks and welcome :).

Inca look scary. But it's their continent after all, you're only guests in their land.:)

Tapt Ö is Beornian. Take it off of Scandinavia in their moment of weakness lest you fight a needless war over it in 140 years.

Are you getting any immigrants, or is the whole Puritan absolute monarchy thing scaring everyone away? At least you managed to claim Patagonia from the natives there.

Even if taking the Chaco leads to your borders being both awful to look at and awful to defend, it does deny it to the Inca (or Lotharingia), and tropical wood is always a nice resource.

If the Incas want to live up to the tradition of good manners of the host, I would want them to respectfully pack their things and go. A Czech proverb says 'A guest in your home is like a God in your home.' And our God can be very persistent in pursuing his aims.

Well, I doubt the Scandinavian government would even notice we conquered the Lost Island (an actual translation). But we have just decided to took over Patagonia...and Tapt-crossed-O is even less valuable.

THEHORSESHOEWESTFALKLAND.JPG

Now what?

I will get to the population stuff in chapter five ;). At the moment I can tell you there are no more than 50k natives in Patagonia.

Yes, taking Chaco surely has its benefits. And it is always better to expand than not to expand.

Interesting! :) I imagine turning Beorna into the Britannic Empire will be quite a feat to accomplish.

Hello :)! I haven't met you for a long time..IIRC, you were one of the readers of my first abysmal try to enter the AARland, weren't you? Glad to have you here ;). And I am starting to believe that the name of the AAR is some sort of a false advertising - people come here believing that I will actually do form Britannia at some moment.

This is really cool! I came here from the EU4 forums and I'm really impressed :D

I am happy you enjoy it :). As you come from the EU4land, you can simply imagine the Divergences world is a converted EU-save as most of the PoDs happened during the 15th century at the start of the Europa Universalis timeframe ;).