Did somebody say Franconia?

Chapter 10: End of an Era
2nd Vassalisation of Wurtemburg - Formation of the Franconian League
Nov 30 1489 - Mar 7 1499
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The annexation of Bavaria was Franconia's coming of age but it was not all good news. Diplo-annexation was seen as a more diplomatic approach than force-annexation but Rudolf was surprised by just how much his tender relationships still fell. Before the annexation, Rudolf had a +68 relationship with Austria and +108 with Wurtemburg whilst afterwards Austria had fallen to -71 and Wurtemburg to -31 with most of the non-allied countries dropping by about 25 as well. The effects luckily were only short term however. Austria and Wurtemburg had relations had increased 20 each by mid 1490. It was then that a group of rebels sprung up in Madgeburg where a garrison was stationed and were easily defeated. After this revolt, order was then restored as war exhaustion from the previous war was fully quenched.

Another matter was brought to the table with the annexation of Bavaria, the leadership of the alliance and the leadership of the Empire itself. The king of Cologne was voted new Emperor and his family would stay in power for quite some time. As for the alliance, Rudolf assumed he would be made leader since the alliance originate between Bavaria and Franconia in 1419. Looking at the finer detail, the history books quoted that Franconia joined on May 3 a full 10 days before Wurtemburg. However this was not to be the case, Wurtemburg were made leaders and just as Rudolf was about to protest it dawned on him. During the Eternal War Franconia had left the alliance for 1 day and rejoined in order to join the war against Burgundy without a stability hit. Franconia was now 4th in line behind Wurtemburg, Austria and Modena.

The next few years were quiet. Eire agreed to share explorations in 1491 but their maps revealed only a few ocean zones. In 1492 a noble feud erupted and Rudolf chose to side with one side rather than comprise his treasury or stability. The rebels took hold in Sachsen and when Rudolf's forces converged, on the second attempt in Nov 1492, they were defeated. A Fine Arts Academy was also commissioned in 1492 in Ansbach fulfilling Rudolf's grandfather's ambition whilst expanding Franconia's economy. 1493 came around quickly and in February Mecklenburg declared independence from Wurtemburg who had had no men stationed there. The Holy Roman Alliance came to arms except for Modena and joined the war against Mecklemburg. Rudolf saw a great chance, his troops were the closest to Mecklemburg and so long as his allies did not send another leader like time Mecklemburg, its CoT and port, could be his. Mecklemburg were quick however, 2 days later they entered an alliance with Pommern and Sweden who promptly joined the war. The Holy Roman Alliance buckled, Austria and Burgundy dishonoured a war against these new enemies, only Wurtemburg supported Franconia. Austria would rejoin the alliance and the war before the end of the month but the signs that the alliance was not as strong as it once was were beginning to crack through.

The war ended Ansbach Army's imprisonment in Bohemia as Austrian rights were given and the arym moved back to Franconian soil as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Rudolf already had Mecklemburg under siege as the Pommeranians fancied their chances in Magdeburg. The Ansbach Army had arrived in Madgeburg but were outstrategised by the Pommeranians and forced back to Sachsen. Rudolf would not let the Ansbach Army fail twice and ordered them back into Magdeburg in August 1493 and the royal intimidation was enough to get the Ansbach Army over the top and liberate Magdeburg. With the enemy on the run, Rudolf begun a counteroffensive pushing into Vorpommern and upon victory there into Hinterpommern. With the Pommern army all but now destroyed Rudolf begun laying siege to Hinterpommern in Feb 1494. In the same month Mecklemburg was captured thanks to some help from Burgundy and Austria whose forces had arrived and turned the siege into an attritional free-for-all.

Rudolf now had a big decision to make. He really wanted to add Mecklemburg to his influence but force-annexation would basically make him the most hated country in Europe. His BadBoy had lowered to about 11 but relations with much of Europe were still pathetic. He could chose to vassalise them but he had tried that with Hannover and Austria had just walked in and taken it. Rudolf was well aware of the Burgundian forces waiting to make such a move on Mecklemburg and if Mecklemburg fell into foreign hands again who knew how long it would be before he had another crack at it. Rudolf made the hard decision, he went for annexation and the 6 Badboy hit. He hoped that the extra income from the CoT would outweigh the diplomatic diminution.

The decision had an almost immediate consequence as Cologne cancelled their vassalisation and declared war on Franconia. Rudolf didn't ask his fragile alliance to partake in this war, after all it was only the Emperor. By October 1494 the Ansbach Army had arrived in Köln and had soon defeated their mediocre sized army. On a separate note, the alliance that was Holy Roman had now accepted new members: Scotland and the newly indepedent Apulia and Gotland. Meanwhile in the north, Franconia and Wurtemburg were still at war with Pommern and Sweden but pressure was taken off this front as once again Brandenburg declared war on Pommern and was joined by Lithuania.

In February 1495, Rudolf accepted peace with Pommern for $32 but Rudolf would not live to see Köln fall to the siege. Rudolf II died in March 1495 and his son Lorenz (445) came to power. Lorenz was a little slow to conquer Köln and the repetive attacks of the Emperor-in-exile meant he could not sustain a proper siege until April 1496. Lorenz was however the first Franconian king to commission a navy, albeit only a scout galley, it first took to the waves in June 1496. In Feb 1497 Köln finally fell and with it Cologne, and the Emperor, once again fell back into franconian vassal status.

Lorenz was a revolutionary at heart, he had been brought up in a world where the Holy Roman Empire was united but he had his own ideas for Franconia. Franconia was now allied with Wurtemburg, Austria, Gotland, Scotland and Apulia meanwhile he had 4 vassals none of whom could be annexed because they weren't in his alliance. Lorenz marked the moment when land tech 3 was discovered as the time for change. In April 1497 Lorenz made the bold decision to leave the remnants of the Holy Roman Alliance and formed the Franconian League. The Franconian League was to be led by Lorenz and to consist of his vassals states so that he could one day annex these nations. First to join were Helvetia and Cologne but Kleves still despised Franconia and Bohemia, whilst being a Franconian vassal, were unwanted in the league since Lorenz had no land connection with them for annexation.

It was a lucky decision to exclude Bohemia from the alliance as in Sep 1497 Austria declared war on them and brought with them their alliance. Bohemia stood no chance and just over a year later Bohemia was incorporated into Austria. This war proved important in the interworkings of Franconia's diplomacy. Before the war Franconia was neutral with Austria with a rating of less than -10, when war broke out because Austria was attacking a franconian vassal relations dropped to -60 and with the force annexation the relations dropped even further to -110. Gone were the days when Franconia and Austria walked hand in hand and Lorenz now found himself with every major country in the world hating him.

The Franconian League was almost complete, but Lorenz still wanted Kleves to be within his grasp. To do this between 1497 and 1499 Kleves was bribed twice to bring them up to neutral status and in May 1499 Kleves agreed to enter the alliance. Lorenz now, having lost Bohemia, had all his vassals in the same alliance as Franconia and was ready to progress Franconia into a new era.


Political Map of Europe, Jan 1499


The bottom of the diplomatic ladder; Franconia's diplomatic situation at the Formation of the League, Mar 1499

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Meanwhile around the neighbourhood...

• 1494-5 Rebellion against Ottoman rule in Bremen thwarted by invading English army who capture Bremen but make peace for $103.
• 1496 Burgundy annexes Lorraine
• 1497 Genoa diplo-vassalises Modena

Meanwhile around Europe...

• 1489-90 Albania declares independence of Ottoman Empire and gets reannexed by Ottoman Empire.
• 1490 Prussia loses Memel to Sweden and becomes a swedish vassal
• 1492 Eire captures Strathclyde from Scotland
• 1494 Apulia declares independence from Venice
• 1495 Poitou declares independence from England
• 1496 Malta defects from Aragon to The Knights
• 1496 Scotland loses The Highlands to Spain
• 1497 Connacht and Sardinia declare independence from Aragon
• 1499 Spain annexes Connacht
• 1499 Ottoman Empire captures Ragusa from Serbia

Coming soon... Chapter 11: The Dormant Years

I don't quite get what u mean AmbassadeBelgie but thanks...i think

Chapter 11: The Dormant Years
Formation of the Franconian League - The Oldenburg Declaration
Mar 7 1499 - Apr 2 1512
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With the Franconian League complete, Franconia entered a long period of abstinence. Lorenz had been on consultation with his diplomatic advisors and Franconia was at the bottom of pit when it came to european relations. They urged him not to enter any new wars and not to do anything that would upset relations until they had increased. Whilst doing this, the advisors said Franconia's warmongering reputation would die down as well. Reluctant as he was, Lorenz adhered to this advice, he would need time anyway before he could put his new League to use and diplo-annex any of his vassals anyway.

Lorenz went about controlling the non-militaristic aspects of his kingdom and it would not be long before he stumbled across a golden opportunity. In January 1500 a new center of trade opened up in Andalusia and with Spain unknown bu apparent colonial presence, the CoT was rich and empty. Lorenz quickly sent 4 merchants to Andalusia before any other nations reacted and they were all quickly able to establish a position and send back reasonable profits. Late in 1500, a rebellion sprung up in Mecklemburg but was quickly defeated without too much loss of Mecklemburg's very high income.

The following years were very quiet with Lorenz constantly watching his relations ever so slowly move. Meanwhile all around him the Major powers were going to war with each other which was resulting in smaller nations being able to break away. Sardinia had broken away from Aragon in 1498 whilst Bremen broke away from the Ottomans in 1503 and Milan from the Pope in 1504. Whilst Sardinia didn't last, it was annexed by Spain in 1500, the other did and would play major roles in the future.

The major event during this period was undoubtably the Lithuanian-Muscovy war which went from 1501 till 1508. This was a devastating show of Muscovy agression and consolidated their dominence in Eastern Europe. Muscovy was able to capture 6 provinces from Lithuania in this short war and with Lithuania in tatters could probably have gone on for a total victory if they wanted to but they were probably conscious of the Badboy effects.

Meanwhile Lorenz's isolationism was paying off, literally. During this period Lorenz recieved both an Enthusiasm for the Army and Navy event which maintained his military strength whilst quintupling the navy size. Since he wasn't spending anything, Franconia's treasury was stockpiling which was much to Lorenz's plan. In 1507 Lorenz had enough funds to construct a refinery in Baden, the only one of his state that produced wine. This refinery not only added to Baden's income but also put investment towards Trade Level. This meant that Lorenz was now able to redistribute funds from Trade Level, where he was excelling, to Land and Naval Tech, the two fields he was falling behind in.

After 12 years had passed and 1511 arrived Lorenz took some time to analyse the effects of this isolation on his diplomatic relations.

Major European Relations changed as follows:
--------------- 1499----------1511
Badboy ===== 15.5 ======= 13.1

Eire ======== +36 ======= +60
Wurtemburg == +24 ======= +11
Portugal ====== 0 ======== +3
Austria ===== -200 ======= -144
Poland ===== -184 ======= -176
France ===== -200 ======= -200
England ==== -199 ======= -171
Spain ====== -199 ======= -191
Hungary ==== -199 ======= -170
Pommern === -199 ======= -178
Denmark ==== -199 ======= -181
Scotland ==== -194 ====== -186
Prussia ===== -199 ======= -188
The Knights = -199 ======= -188
Papal States = -199 ======= -188
Venice ===== -199 ======== -193
Lithuania ==== -200 ======= -197
Aragon ===== -199 ======= -198
Burgundy ==== -199 ======= -200
Sweden ===== -200 ======= -200

Lorenz was so disappointed with the result that he almost went insane, almost. Instead he took out his anger by quickly diplo-annexing Helvetia in April 1511 which undid most of the last 10 years' hard work. But Lorenz didn't care anymore as he hanged all those advisors who had told him to enter isolation and took command of his nation like a raging bull leaping out of the gates in a rodeo. Lorenz spent the next year preparing his country for war, or rather deciding where Franconia would expand to next.

Franconia had always been about uniting Germany and to date it had done quite well in that regard. Bremen had broken free from the Ottoman Empire but the last thing Lorenz wanted was a 6 BB hit from another annexation. Pommern and Brandeburg lay in the east but their locations were awkward. Their capitals bordered Franconia meaning if Lorenz were to capture provinces from them they would be separated from main Franconia. Hannover was still under Austrian control and despite a few early rebellions, they had become complacent to Austrian rule. The trouble was though that Austria was still in the strong alliance that Franconia had left 10 years before and whilst Lorenz may have been able to take Austria alone, Burgundy on the other front would be too much and vice versa if he declared war on Burgundy. To the North lay the often forgot about Oldenburg. Oldenburg had been French since 1440 and had since been attacked by Burgundy and England neither of whom successfully kept it. Lorenz saw a chance; the war would not be all that difficult strategically since Oldenburg was cut off from the rest of France and the only other place the two nations bordered was in the newly conquered Swiss Alps. The decision was made in April 1512 as Lorenz dusted off his military secrets and the generals wrote their war cries.


Political Map of Europe, Jan 1509

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Meanwhile around the neighbourhood...

• 1500 Wurtemburg cancels austrian vassalisation
• 1502 Burgundy re-enters Austrian alliance
• 1503 Bremen declares independence from the Ottoman Empire
• 1504 Austria re-vassalises Wurtemburg

Meanwhile around Europe...

• 1499 North Africa declares independence of Morocco
• 1499 Scotland lose The Grampians to Portugal and become a portugeuse vassal
• 1499 New Center of Trade opens in Andalusia
• 1500 Sardinia annexed by Spain
• 1500 Suzdal lose Kazan to Muscovy and become muscovian vassal
• 1503 Wallachia diplo-vassalises Serbia
• 1504 Government of Papal States falls, Milan declares independence
• 1504 England diplo-vassalises Eire
• 1505 Ottoman Empire captures Bujak from Moldavia
• 1506 Government of Wallachia falls, The Knights turbo-annex Naples
• 1508 Muscovy captures Livland, Belgorod, Welikia, Kursk, Ryazan and Tula from Lithuania.
• 1508 Morocco annexed by North Africa
• 1509 Morocco declares independence from Portugal
• 1512 Persia captures Kirkuk and Azerbaijan from Ak Koyunlu

Coming soon... Chapter 12: Ain't no Mountain High Enough

Well i have to write what the readers want to read so AmbassadeBelgie watch out for chapter 13.


Chapter 12: Ain't no Mountain High Enough
The Oldenburg Declaration - Coronation of Konrad II
Apr 2 1512 - Mar 2 1519
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After the failure of King Lorenz's isolationist strategy, Franconia came out of its cacoon by declaring war on France. The declaration came in April 1512 but without a Casus Belli, Franconia lost 3 Stability points by just going to war and Portugal, France's ally joined in opposition. As for the Franconian League, Lorenz never planned for them to participate in Franconia's wars but rather be there when the time is right to annex. So Franconia went it alone. Moving swiftly the Würzburg Army moved into the vacant Oldenburg and laid siege. On the alpine front, wary of an attack from behind and also wary that more than just one province would need to be captured in order to get France to ceed Oldenburg, Lorenz sent the remnants of the Helvetian army down to Piemonte.

The French were not far behind as in November 1512 they attacked Bern. Lorenz was ready for this though and the Ansbach Army arrived a day later just in time to meet the French and repel them back to Savoie. France despite being a great European power were weakened by the fact that their lands were split into parts disallowing the movement to troops to the frontline. Lorenz, by attacking the southernmost of the 3 parts was also attacking the weakest part and with Portugal only being able to have a naval influence the odds were always going to be in Franconia's favour. Using a strategy where the Helvetian army would lead the assault and the Ansbach Army arrive later to control the sieges, Lorenz was able to push the French back over the Rhone to Lyonnais and then back further to Languedoc whilst laying sieges to Savoie and Lyonnais in the way. Meanwhile Oldenburg was captured in Jan 1513 and with the French army now no more than a few hundred men the rest of 1513 was dedicated to the sieges in Piemonte, Lyonnais and Savoie. By the end of the year all 3 had fallen and although at first Lorenz wanted only to conquer Oldenburg he now had a great chance to put a large dent in southern France. He offered France a generous peace for Oldenburg and Savoie but was turned away in Dec 1513. Lorenz wouldn't relent whilst he still had absolute power in Southern France so he ordered some men to march into Dauphine and begin a siege. It was then in Feb 1514 that the French came to him and offered a deal even better than Lorenz had hoped, in addition to the previous deal they were willing to throw in Piemonte.

Lorenz took the peace but it was only after he had that he realised the consequences. The war only went for 2 years but in this time Lorenz had recklessly gained 10 Badboy points, 4 for the war declaration without Casus Belli and 2 each for the 3 provinces he had gained. Not only now did everybody hate Franconia but its reputation was "very bad" as the BadBoy topped 24. It did not take long for the first consequence to occur. In May 1514 Denmark declared war on Franconia and with it Bremen. Lorenz however was always the optimist, he saw this chance as an opportunity to capture Bremen and add it to its League of vassals. In July, the Ansbach Army and the Wurzburg Army both attacked Bremen and the green grunts of Bremen had no chance. Bremen was put under siege in August, the same month that Modena joined Denmark's alliance and the war. With Holstein already rebelling against Denmark Lorenz decided to station the Ansbach Army in Mecklemburg rather than attack Denmark.

I can't fight, I'm seasick!
In September, the Franconian navy who had been out patrolling came across the Danish Fleet. Lorenz had never bothered to actually train his navy for combat, they were only built to explore the seas and show that Franconia know how the float. The ensuing battle, the first naval battle for Franconia was an utter failure; a great exhibition of how to lose a battle despite more firepower. The Franconian navy was from that moment laughed off by the rest of Europe and jokes were made about the seamen not being able to fire because they were too seasick. With this failure the navy retreated to port and did not face another battle for the rest of the war.


The seasick Franconian Navy.

The war didn't last that much longer anyway as in February 1515 Bremen was captured and were quickly made to become vassals of Franconia. Since Bremen was the leader of its alliance the war with Denmark and Modena also ended. A month later Bremen was added to the alliance as well since although they joined the war with Denmark they actually liked Franconia and had had to break a royal marriage to enter the war. Franconia was at peace once more.

All was not fine however, Bremen remained at war with the Ottoman Empire, a war it had been in since its independence. The Ottoman Empire had somehow travelled around the mediterranean once more and had landed troops in Bremen not long after Lorenz's troops had moved out. Lorenz had no way of protecting Bremen from the Ottoman siege without declaring war on them but that would cost another 4 Badboy and Lorenz thought 24 was high enough. Hopelessly, Bremen was captured by the Ottomans in March 1516 and unfortunately for Lorenz fell back into Ottoman hands as they annexed.

Martin Luther made his appearance in Franconia in January 1517 and word soon spread far and wide. Lorenz had personally spoken with Martin Luther who urged him to join the protest against the Pope. 6 of Franconia's provinces were now protestant but thanks to the last war and the french Catholic gains, they were now catholic 10 provinces including the capital province Ansbach. Lorenz decided that he would remain a catholic nation. The last thing he needed was another excuse for his neighbours to declare war on him. He did however decide to change his tolerence levels to ensure his protestant province would not rebel and in doing so became completely intolerant of Orthodox and Islam. In addition to this he also made an attempt the lower his now expensive stability cost by commissioning a missionary in Oldenburg, the smallest of protestant states and easiestto convert.


Franconia split between Catholicism and Protestantism.

The year 1518 was spent accustomising to the new religion as Lorenz waited to see whether any of the countries in Europe would take the religion on fully and convert. It did not occur. Sweden had also commissioned a missionary in one of its finnish states but that other than that there was sense of who'll go first amongst the nations. In October, Enthusiasim for the Army added 500 infantry to the Ansbach Army which was strengthened again by the development of Land Tech 4 in November. By 1519, Lorenz was getting sick and he died in March 1519. He was to be remembered as a reckless king who's inability to make friends made him the angry and some would say mad despite his victories. He was succeeded by his son Konrad II (544) who was a slightly better diplomat than his father but unfortunately for him he inherited a nation hated by the whole known world and with the reputation of the plague. There was no amount of diplomatic skill that would have helped Konrad escape from what his father was leaving for him and what would happen to Franconia in the years to come.


Political Map of Europe, Jan 1519

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Meanwhile around the neighbourhood...

• 1513 War breaks out between Austria, Burgundy, Wurtemberg, Gotland, Apulia and later Papal States vs Hungary and Poland
• 1516 Bremen annexed by Ottoman Empire

Meanwhile around Europe...

• 1513 Hungary captures Ruthenia and Transylvania from Moldavia
• 1515 Serbia cancels wallachian vassalage
• 1516 Spain annexes Aragon by event
• 1517 The Grampians defect from Portugal to Scotland
• 1518 England diplo-annexed Eire

Coming soon... Chapter 13: Years of Hell

Interlude 2: 100 Year Report
Jan 30 1469 - Jan 1 1519
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Well with a quarter of the game gone its time to see how things are fairing.

These 50 years was a time when Franconia went from being a local power to a real world player. It was a period when Franconia came of age by annexing its master Bavaria and claimed its first CoT. Franconia grew from 7 provinces to 16 in these 50 years. If one were to relate this period to an actual historical period one might call it the Classical Age of Franconia, well i will anyway. Franconia only had 2 Monarchs during this time frame both of whom were much better than the monarchs in the first portion of the game, they averaged a skill level of 4.5 compared to the 3.8 from the last report.

Here are the diagrams to show how things are after 100 years. Note that the new discoveries east of the Caspian were captured from the siege of Bremen which, since they broke away from the Ottoman Empire, had all their maps.

----- - - -
The Neighbourhood --------- The Diplomatic situation - The Political Map ---- The Victory Points ----- The Trade situation
showing Domestic Settings

Technologically, Franconia was falling behind in the two miltary technologies in the early part of this era but, with the addition of the Mecklemberg CoT and the rise of Franconia to become the 2nd richest economy in Europe, gains were made towards the end. By 1519, Franconia was using a military-based strategy with about double as much going to land tech as to naval tech and a reduced trade investment due to the refinery.

Of the major nations:
Infrastructure: Franconia (3) leads Austria (3) leads France (2) leads Poland (2) leads England (2) leads Spain (2) leads OE (2) leads China (2)
Trade Level: Franconia (2) leads France (2) leads Austria (2) leads Poland (2)leads Spain (2) leads England (2) leads OE (2) leads China (2)
Land Tech: France (5) leads Austria (4) leads Spain (4) leads Franconia (4) leads England (3) leads OE (3) leads China (3) leads Poland (3)
Naval Tech: England (3) leads France (3) leads OE (2) leads Franconia (2) leads Austria (2) leads Poland (2) leads China (1)

and thats the ways things are after 100 years...

Well that really pisses me off. I just spent 3 hours writing the longest, best and most action-packed chapter and was ready to post it. I press the post button and what happens? An "Illegal Operation" meaning it doesn't post and everything i've written just gets wiped, deleted, destroyed, lost...

I'll have to rewrite everything later when i got more time and feel up to it. Really disappointing.

As for religious tolerance, well Franconia's in possibly the worst location in terms of religion (or England), I could try to convert my provinces but its hard unless u have a really good monarch and Franconia doesn't get very good monarchs. I'ld rather use the missionary money on building troops or something. Although i agree, we must rid Germany of this Sunni monster.

Here's my little birthday present for you all. I finally rewrote it all and from now on, i'm writing this in Word so i can save before i post.



Chapter 13: Years of Hell
Coronation of Konrad II - Treaty of Stettin
Mar 2 1519 - Aug 1 1532
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Konrad II became King of Franconia in March 1519 and it would not be long before he would be tested as a ruler. In May, his truce ran out with France and France were hungry for revenge wanting to claim back Savoie and Piemonte which it had lost in the last war 5 years earlier. They declared war immediately and brought with them their allies Portugal. Konrad saw this as an opportunity, since it was a defensive war for once, to capture provinces without sustaining a large reputation hit. First though he had to defeat a rebellion caused by the announcement of the war in Bern. Whilst 1 regiment handled the rebellion another ventured into Lyonnais to meet the substantial French army. The offensive failed so Konrad regrouped his forces in Savoie.

Konrad decided to go on another offensive by sending 2 armies to each of the undefended provinces of Dauphine and Provence. Meanwhile he also planned an amphibious landing mission to French controlled Siena but with his Mediterranean fleet only having a 2000 man capacity it would take a few trips. Troops arrived in Siena in Oct 1519 but thanks to the French naval presence meant siege could be laid until Mar 1520. As the fleet returned to port in Piemonte they intercepted a Portuguese fleet, who, as opposed to the previous war, were participating atleast navally, and won their first battle announcing the return of Franconia’s navy as more than just a joke. In August, whilst the 3 sieges persisted, Konrad sent the Ansbach Army and another regiment to fight the French in Lyonnais and upon winning laid siege. By the end of 1520 Dauphine and Provence had fallen and the war looked like it was drawing to a close with Franconia now dominating southern France but it was not to be. In September, Denmark declared war on Franconia and with them came England and Spain. This was now serious and it was then that Konrad realised that France had not declared war for revenge but rather because of Franconia’s reputation as a warmonger, they were Badboy wars!

Konrad moved quickly and sent his only remaining northern army into Holstein and defeated the small garrison there and put Hamburg under siege. In March 1521 another rebellion was suppressed in Bern, Siena was captured and naval skirmishing commenced both in the Mediterranean and Baltic. In June the French were able to liberate Lyonnais from siege whilst Spain was able to make a landing in Mecklemburg. Konrad split the retreating forces from Lyonnais, some to siege the now undefended Languedoc whilst others attempted to besiege Lyonnais again. Initially, Konrad couldn’t retake Languedoc but an offensive led by the Ansbach Army in October did the job. Meanwhile, the Portuguese had landed in Oldenburg but the Spaniards in Mecklemburg had left allowing the northern regiment to redeploy the siege in Holstein whilst the new Würzburg Army was sent to liberate Oldenburg. By April 1522 Lyonnais was captured but Iberians had besieged Oldenburg, Münster and Mecklemburg. In May, Holstein was captured from Denmark and Languedoc fell and Konrad offered a generous peace but the French were stubborn and declined so Konrad turned up the heat and besieged Cevennes as well. Attention now turned to attempted Portuguese landings in Piemonte who although were defeated retreated to Bern. The Ansbach Army defeated them and continued north but wasn’t needed as the Würzburg Army liberated Münster and Oldenburg alone. With that, the French accepted peace in Sep 1522 for Dauphine and Provence but a new enemy arrived to fill the void one month later.

Venice declared war with their allies The Knights and Russia. Franconia has no border with any of these nations so Konrad would have to use a naval strategy although Venice had the military rights to reach Franconia so he had to watch out. Konrad focused his forces up north where the Spanish were still wreaking havoc whilst keeping a regiment in Piemonte for the chance of an attack. After The Knights declined a peace after an unsuccessful invasion to Piemonte in March 1423 Konrad decided to employ the same amphibious mission that he used in Siena on the Knight-owned Napoli but such naval activity meant to would not be until August that troops would actually land. Meanwhile in June a Conquistador, Tübingen, appeared in the ranks but with the middle of a war raging Konrad has no time to use him for anything other than a general. In the same month, Pommern declared war and with them Sweden and Genoa. Konrad’s forces were already stretched enough so he decided to forgo the chance of permanently taking Holstein and made a white-peace with Denmark, England and Spain. In August 1523, a naval victory over Pommern captured new maps showing the Coast of Greenland whilst in September an unsuccessful offensive was made into Liguria.

It was then that all hell broke loose as Burgundy declared war bringing with it the Grand Alliance of Austria, Wurtemberg, Gotland, Apulia and the Papal States. Konrad was desperate, he knew that he would have no chance against this alliance, especially since 4 years of constant war had drained his trade profits and treasury funds, so he had to make the war as short as possible. In October, a white peace was hastily arranged with The Knights, the Ansbach Army found itself outnumbered in Vorpommern whilst Burgundy moved in on Pfalz, Münster and Oldenburg. Konrad moved one regiment to besiege Franche-Comte whilst the Ansbach Army regrouped and attacked Hannover and when they defeated a small garrison there Austria was forced to reconsider their position in the war; they still had a war raging against Poland and Hungary and this single loss was enough for them to sign a white peace with Franconia. Since Austria was also the alliance leader, this ended the war with Burgundy and co also. It was the luckiest moment in Konrad’s life.


All hell broke loose, war vs 12 nations, Sep 1523

The Ansbach Army was able to defeat the Pomeranians in Vorpommern in Feb 1524 and laid siege. Early 1524 saw two more rebellions rise in Provence and Bern and whilst the Bern rebellion took 3 attempts and 1 year to squash Konrad had no time for the Provence rebels and after diminishing them to a size so they could no longer lay siege, let them be. In June, the missionary in Oldenburg sent out 6 years earlier was finally finished and Oldenburg was now Catholic.

Tübingen’s 1st Expedition
Much of the next 12 months was quiet with Pommern, Sweden and Genoa playing defensive, which allowed Konrad to regroup. In addition to this Konrad was able to send Tübingen on an expedition to explore this newly discovered Coast of Greenland. The expedition using 2 warships and 2000 men was commenced from Mecklemburg in July 1525. The Fleet reached the Coast of Greenland in December but found it too cold to land on the eastern coast to explore. The southern tip appeared to be owned by Denmark but, without rights, Tübingen could not land there either. Considering the expedition a failure Tübingen turned around and returned home arriving in Mecklemburg the next May.

Meanwhile, the quiet was broken when Milan and Modena declared war in October 1525 and the next month, the Ottoman Empire and Crimea declared war also. Konrad didn’t understand why, the only Ottoman territory within 2000 miles of Franconia was Bremen and that was poorly defended as it was. Konrad quickly organized a peace with By March 1526, Bremen was siege and by July Milan had defeated the Ansbach Army twice to lay siege on Piemonte. Brandenburg was the next nation to declare war on Franconia in August and big brother Lithuania joined them. By the end of the year, not only had Milan been pushed from Piemonte but Lombardia was under siege as well. At the start of 1527 the only northern free regiment was defeated by Brandenburg and they were able to lay siege to Madgeburg. After a miraculous liberation attempt by Crimea, Bremen was captured in February but by mid-year the siege on Lombardia had been lifted and Milan was besieging Piemonte again. The Ansbach Army took care of the Lombards and by September Lombardia was back under siege meanwhile, ignoring the besieging army in Madgeburg Konrad sent his forces straight for the core and besieged Brandenburg. Brandenburg captured Madgeburg in July and moved down to Sachsen allowed Konrad to split his forces and besiege both Brandenburg and Madgeburg at the same time.

In August 1527, the wars turned full circle as France declared war on Franconia for the second time, their buddy Portugal as always alongside. In February, Brandenburg and Madgeburg were captured resulting in total victory but since Brandenburg was already Lithuania’s vassal Konrad had to left them off with a white-peace. In June 1428 the French offensive into Savoie succeeded but with Lombardia falling in August troops were relocated and the Ansbach Army pushed the French from Savoie in November. Peace was made with Modena and Milan in September and it was then, after months of trying to make peace with the Ottoman Empire that Konrad realised that Crimea was the alliance leader and a white-peace was quickly arranged.

When Venice declared war on Franconia for the 2nd time in December 1528, Konrad decided that this series of Badboy wars required some action. In 1519 Franconia’s Badboy was 22.5 and in 1528 it was still high at 21.9 after taking Dauphine and Provence. Konrad decided that he would need to lower his Badboy quickly if he was ever going to end there wars. He made the decision to release Provence as a vassal to lower his Badboy by 1 and enter it into his alliance so, when things died down, he would be able to re-annex it. By January 1529, the French in Lyonnais had been defeated and Lyon was under siege. In June The Knights and Venice launched an assault on Piemonte and whilst it failed, the Venetian army retreated to Bern and regrouped to defeat the follow up attack but then luckily left on their on accord. In November, Lyonnais was captured and peace made with France for $20. One month later Konrad realized he was still at war with Lithuania because the peace made with Brandenburg was a separate peace as Lithuania was the alliance leader. Since no battles had occurred in the 3-year war with Lithuania white-peace was seen as mutual by both sides and was signed.


Political Map of Europe, Dec 1528

Things were looking up for Konrad who was now in only 1 war but then came the return of the Grand Austrian Alliance as the Pope declared war in January 1530 and this time Austria was no longer at war with Poland or Hungary. They were quick out of the blocks too, within a 2 months Wurtemberg had besieged Konrad’s own castle in Nuremberg whilst Burgundy had besieged Pfalz and Münster. Not to be outdone, Konrad, realizing that Austria, as alliance leader, was key, sent the Ansbach Army into Schwyz and defeated the small garrison to lay siege. Austria struck back in March by attempting to liberate Schwyz but the altitude and lack of cultural support to supply their army allowed the Ansbach Army to hold its own. With that Austria once again chickened out of a meaningful war, Konrad sent a diplomat after that battle and made a white-peace instantly. Burgundy and Wurtemberg weren’t impressed but who were they to judge the alliance leader. With Austria out of the way, Konrad could now focus on Venice and the ensuing battles in the Italian Alps. It would take two more Venetian defeats for The Knights to realize enough was enough and signed a white peace in September 1530.

It was over, for the first time on 12 years Franconia was at peace, its Badboy had seemed to have dropped to an acceptable level and Konrad could rebuild he nation peacefully. But it wasn’t over, the peace only lasted 4 months as Pommern declared war again with Genoa joining in. The Ansbach Army, who had just finished marching back to its station in Würzburg was forced to the northern front as the Pomeranians besieged Mecklemburg. Ignoring the Mecklemburg siege, the Ansbach Army stormed to Vorpommern and after 2 attempts defeated the defending army and laid siege. Meanwhile Konrad applied for a loan, the first loan in Franconia’s history, not particularly because the needed it but because he wanted to rebuild his armies to end the war quickly and ensure peace and with the economy recovering at last, it would not be an issue to pay it back, so long as it did ensure peace. In November, an offensive into Liguria failed but with more troops now complete, Konrad was able to attack the besieging Pomeranians in Mecklemburg whilst maintaining the siege in Vorpommern. It was successful except the stalking armies thought the enemy was retreating to Vorpommern when they actually went to Madgeburg and this mistake allowed the enemy to reform and defeat the Franconian armies when they did arrive in January. In March 1532, the Genovians were defeated in Genoa but the siege had to be cancelled as the enemy retreated in Franconian territory and had to be evicted. Siege was finally maintained in May meanwhile the Pommern army had been evicted from Madgeburg in April. In June, Vorpommern, was captured but Pommern did not give up and it was not until the siegers in Genoa repelled yet another liberation attempt that Pommern decided they had lost and paid $54 for their peace in August 1532.

So that was it. The Years of Hell for Konrad and Franconia were over. Badboy was now only 20, which was half the maximum 40, which was enough to prevent further wars. It would take time for Franconia to recover; war exhaustion was 10 nationwide with riot risk as high as 9% in the Alpine states. Trade was all but eliminated with complete eviction from the Venice market thanks to their embargoes but luckily all embargoes were now lifted and Franconia could return to being the major player it was before the war. The numerous lootings and sieges had reduced Franconia’s annual income to no more than $20 especially when Mecklemburg was under siege but provinces would soon return to full productivity and income as war exhaustion fell. In addition, Konrad still had his Conquistador, Tübingen who had spent the war leading the Ansbach Army. New maps had been captured in Milan in 1528 which showed the uninhabited Mauritanian Coast as well as the Banks of Newfoundland. Soon enough Konrad would be able to fund another expedition and Franconia could soon dream of becoming a colonial nation. Who would have thought of that 110 years ago; a landlocked one-province vassal nation four provinces from the nearest coast becoming a colonising nation.

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Meanwhile around the neighbourhood...

• 1519 Burgundy captures Alsace from Hungary
• 1521 Austria captures Krain from Venice
• 1527 Wurtemberg cancels austrian vassalage
• 1530 Austria re-vassalises Wurtemberg
• 1532 Wurtemberg converts to Protestantism

Meanwhile around Europe...

• 1520 Ottoman Empire vassalises Algiers by event
• 1522 Muscovy becomes Russia by event
• 1522 Aures defects from Spain to Algiers
• 1523 Delhi diploannexes Transoxania
• 1524 Sicily declares independence from Spain
• 1525 Kabylia defects from Spain to Algiers
• 1526 Denmark captures Sicily and vassalises Sicily
• 1527 Burgundy annexes Sicily
• 1528 Orleans declares independence of England
• 1530 Sweden converts to Protestantism by event
• 1530 Burgundy annexes Orleans
• 1530 Algiers annexes Almohad

Coming soon... Chapter 14: Raising the Saw-Tooth Flag

AmbassadeBelgie said:

WOW you update really quickly I almost didn't have the time to read your last update

Click to expand...

Its cause i'm having so much fun with the game and want to keep playing it but i don't wanna get to far ahead of the AAR or else i start forgetting things.

Chapter 14: Raising the Saw-Tooth Flag
Treaty of Stettin – The Norway Declaration
Aug 1 1532 – Mar 1 1547
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The Years of Hell ended with the Treaty of Stettin in August 1532 which marked the end of 14 years of war. Konrad II of Franconia now had time to let his economy and rebuild his nation. During the war however, Konrad was blessed with a natural conquistador, Tübingen, being found in the ranks. Konrad was able to send him on an expedition to Greenland however that was a failure. However with the war now over, and the discovery of new lands called Newfoundland, Konrad was again able to fund another expedition for Tübingen to lead.

Tübingen’s 2nd expedition
The expedition, as experienced by Tübingen the first time, would take its toll on the men and ships that he took with him and with no friendly port between Mecklemberg and Newfoundland, supplies would be limited. Konrad decided that there was only one group of men suitable for such a dangerous mission, the Ansbach Army. Ofcourse, not the entirely Ansbach Army could on the 2 warships built for the purpose so the Ansbach Army was thinned out to 2000 men with the rest being transferred into different regiments. The expedition was ready to set sail in July 1533. The crossing was long and the temperatures cold as the winter was spent on the waves. Finally, as winter ended, landfall was made in April 1534 and the province of Wabana was explored. The crossing had cost the lives of over half the men and only 1 ship had survived. The navy was immediately sent back to Europe to resupply whilst Tübingen kept exploring. The ship made it all the way across the Atlantic before succumbing to leaks off the coast of Norway in August. Somehow logs were recovered from the wreck and returned to Konrad inciting him to Tübingen’s discoveries. He immediately decided to send a fleet of colonists to the region. Meanwhile Tübingen had explored the island revealing Placentia and Gander as well by September. The colonists arrived and set up a Trading Post in Wabana in late August. Tübingen was made governor of Newfoundland and when more colonists arrived a colony was established in Placentia in December, which was lucky for Tübingen’s men as the winter was closing in again. By January the trading post in Wabana had been upgraded to a colony and with these new colonies providing simple boats, the Bay of Fundy was discovered and Konrad was making plans to build a new navy to allow Tübingen to explore the other side of the bay. The ships were under construction when Tübingen fell victim to a native disease and died in June 1535 ending the plans for further exploration.

Meanwhile Konrad had been busy in Europe. Whilst sending his money overseas into his new colonial investments, Franconia was getting used to peace with the only uprising coming from Piemonte in January 1533 which was defeated by October. As 1535 rolled by, Konrad was stilling watching his neighbours as the truce with Austria, Burgundy and Co ran out. Thankfully, there was no declaration of war and the end of the Badboy wars was confirmed. Konrad also spent this time re-establishing the trade which had been forced out either by competition of embargoes during the war. Realising the effect of colonial trade, Konrad focused on Tago and Andalusia which promised large returns in light of the Iberians' colonies. This was boosted by the discovery of Trade level 3 in 1537.

In April 1537, Konrad sent a fleet to pickup the Ansbach Army and return the survivors back to Europe. The crossing would not be so tough this time as the fleet was able to resupply in the Wabana colony before turning around. The Ansbach Army arrived back in Franconia April 1538 just a few weeks before a colony was established in Gander. Only 500 men of the Ansbach Army made it back and they were treated as heroes as yet another adventure ended for the longest continuously-serving army in Franconia. In addition, Konrad’s military success seemed to pay-off during the peace as between 1532 and 1538 Franconia received 2 army reformations and 1 enthusiasm for the navy.


The State of Europe, Jan 1539 (NB: Konrad II suffered a scandal at the court reducing his diplomatic skill temporarily)

Konrad expanded his colony in Wabana in 1539 in what would be his last political decision. He then grew ill and passed away on New Years day 1540. Konrad II would be remembered for his bravery under immense pressure during the Years of Hell and for laying the foundations of a colonial empire. The new king was Konrad III (557), the son of Konrad II; he was a very able man especially at the administrative aspects of government. Konrad III began where his father had left off by further expanding Wabana. In September, he faced his first challenge as the unhappiness amongst the peasants resulted in a fearsome revolt in Madgeburg. It would take the Ansbach Army, now reformed to its usual size, three attempts to break the rebellion and it was suppressed in February 1541. In early 1442, yet another Reformation of the Army occurred as the Franconian League renewed its alliance, it had expired after ten years of peace. In April 1543 and 1544 Wabana was yet again expanded and after that, Konrad realized his admistrative skills and planned to fully utilize them to hopefully convert some of the Protestants still practicing in the eastern provinces. Anhalt was next on the list to be converted, due to its small population, and the next year was spent raising enough funds to commission a missionary.

Tragedy struck in June 1544 as Konrad III died of an unknown sudden illness. He left with him no heir meaning that the throne would have to pass to his cousin, Melchior Zobel (464) thus beginning the Zobel line of kings. Growing up during the Years of Hell, Melchior Zobel had obtained greater military skill than all the previous kings of Franconia however his administrative skills were not as good as Konrad III which meant that a conversion of Anhalt would now be much harder to implement and less likely to work. The plan was abandoned. Instead the funds were used to improve relations with Kleves and in March 1545, Melchior diplo-annexed Kleves into Franconia ending 60 years of vassalage.

With investment periodically being made to expand the colony of Wabana, Franconia was left with no funds when the opportunity presented itself to Melchior to support dissidents abroad. Melchior was forced to take out a loan in April to cover this cost but he was not particularly worried, as he knew his powerhouse economy could afford the loan. By April 1546, the colony of Wabana had expanded enough to found a new provincial city in the province. The natives joined the township in what was to become known as New Ansbach. Meanwhile back home Franconia’s economy had now fully recovered with trade expanding to the extent that by 1546 monopolies were established in Tago and Andalusia.

Melchior always wanted to live up to Konrad II’s standards who initiated the colonization of Newfoundland but found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. He had now colonized Newfoundland to the extent that he now had the provincial city of New Ansbach whilst Placentia and Gander were also well established but he wanted new exploits. Without any explorers or conquistadors at Melchior’s disposal he was unable to discover new lands by himself. For nearly a century, Franconia had been aware of Portugal’s colonization activity due to the royal marriages with them during the 15th Century but relations had since dried up and without any Portuguese maps there was know idea where the colonists were going. More recently, Franconian patrol fleets in the Baltic Sea had seen colonist ships embarking from Copenhagen bound for far and away names like Antigua and Trinidad & Tobago. Melchior was interested in finding out where these places were and the only way to find out was to somehow get a hold of Danish maps. The Danish were very uncooperative on the matter and given the numerous wars with Franconia, Melchior resigned himself to the fact that he would not be able to get them diplomatically. He would have to take them by force but this wouldn’t be easy as any attack on Denmark would start a war with England and Spain as well and could eventuate into new badboy wars. Melchior came up with another idea; In 1535 Norway had broken away from Denmark during a very unstable time for Denmark and with them took the Danish maps to Norway. By 1547 Norway was allied with Sweden and in major war against Austria, Gotland, Apulia, Burgundy, Wurtemberg and the Papal States and were not going so well. Melchior, the brilliant strategist he was, decided to make the most of these fortunate circumstances and declared war on Norway and Sweden in an attempt to capture the prized Danish maps.


Newfoundland, Jan 1547

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Meanwhile around the neighbourhood...

• 1532 Denmark converts to Protestantism
• 1534 Brandenburg converts to Protestantism
• 1535 Pommern converts to Protestantism
• 1539 Holstein declares independence from Denmark
• 1540 Bremen declares independence from Ottoman Empire
• 1540 Austria annexes Hungary by event
• 1541 Jylland defects from Denmark to Holstein
• 1541 Poland captures Küstrin from Pommern

Meanwhile around Europe...

• 1533 Ottoman Empire annexes Wallachia
• 1534 England converts to Protestantism by event
• 1534 Serbia lose Kosovo to Ottoman empire and become ottoman vassals
• 1535 Government of Denmark falls, Norway and Sicily declare independence.
• 1535 Delhi caputres Kalat from Baluchistan
• 1535 Persia captures Daghestan and Nuyssaybin from Ak Koyunlu
• 1536 Ottoman Empire annexes Moldavia
• 1537 Genoa diplo-vassalise Milan
• 1537 Sicily lose Sicily to Austria and become an austrian vassal
• 1538 England captures The Grampians from Scotland
• 1538 Genoa diplo-vasslise Modena
• 1539 Russia capture Kaffa from Crimea
• 1539 Ottoman Empire captures Taurus from The Knights
• 1539 Papal States captures Napoli from The Knights
• 1541 Prussia converts to Protestantism
• 1543 Mameluks capture Sivas from Ak Koyunlu
• 1545 Persia diplo-vassalises Baluchistan
• 1545 Government of Denmark falls, Skane declares independence
• 1547 England converts back to Catholicism
• 1547 Russia cancels her vassalise on Suzdal

Coming soon... Chapter 15: Nor-way to the West

SirruShan - Denmark gained spanish maps through the silicilian affair. In 1524 Sicily declared independence from Spain and gained their maps. In 1526 when Denmark conquered and vassalised Sicily the maps were captured. Burgundy and Austria also gained the maps when they subsequently conquered Sicily in 1527 and 1537.

AmbassadeBelgie - Sure i could do what napoleon did but he didn't succeed did he? Secondly, of course their never actually was a 'Zobel' dynasty, the monarch list (Würzberg's list too) is based on the bishops of Würzberg who were elected for life like the Pope or Emperor but making up dynasties is a lot more fun and interesting.

Chapter 15: Nor-way to the West
The Norway Declaration – Ulrich’s Decision
Mar 1 1547 – Dec 30 1552
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Franconia, led by King Melchior Zobel, declared war on Norway on Mar 1 1547 with the intention of stealing their maps. Melchior knew that the Norwegians stored their maps in their capital, Bergen, so that was his target. Sweden entered the war immediately coming to Norway’s defense and honouring their alliance. Melchior had prepared his armies and navies for the crossing of the Baltic Sea and it only took until May to land an army in Swedish Ostlandet. Melchior knew that attacking Bergenshus overland would be more likely to succeed and gave the option of retreating if it didn’t and Ostlandet was unguarded at the time. Melchior soon realised that the Norwegians had their entire army positioned in Bergen as if predicting an onslaught so he deviously tried to force them out of their impenetrable mountain defences by moving to besiege Trondelag. The plan failed and the Norwegians stayed put so Melchior decided to go for the full-scale assault anyway. The battle took place in July 1547 with about 11000 forces on either side and despite the mountaneous advantage the Norwegians found themselves out-strategised and lost the battle but retained the majority of their force.

Melchior had Bergen under siege but with the majority of the Norwegians getting away he feared their regrouping and return. This threat was intensified by a peace that was being arranged between Austria and Norway in which Burgundy would gain Iceland that July which meant that the powerful Swedes might now turn on Franconia. After one Norwegian counter-attack, Melchior decided to abandon the siege to launch a follow up attack on the Norwegians army whilst they were still weak. This proved a poor decision as first, the invasion army went to Ostlandet instead of Trondelag, where the Norwegians went and secondly they ran into a trap by arriving just a few days before a Swedish army arrived in Ostlandet. The confusion continued into the ensuing battle as the invasion army lost, it was now December. In the beginning of 1548 new troops were recruited and loaded into the boats to help out the invasion. In April and June more attempts were made on Bergenshus but the Norwegians had now consolidated their defences and were not giving in.

The exact reasoning behind what happened next is unclear, it might have been that the Norwegians were scared off by Franconia’s discovery of Land Tech 8 or were sidetracked by the siege in Trondelag, where the invasion army had retreated to, or some temporary insanity of the generals but in August the entire Norwegian army left Bergenshus and their destination was never recorded, they may have loaded onto ships planning an invasion of their own or else gone to Swedish Ostlandet so as to flank the invasion force in Trondelag. All Melchior knew was that he was handed a gift. His men waltzed into Bergenshus and laid siege without any resistance. It was only when the siege was completed in April 1549 that the Norwegian army was recorded as now being in Trondelag. With the Norwegian capital captured, Melchior had achieved his objective and indeed the maps were found in the city archives. No longer needing the war, he made a generous white peace with Norway. Meanwhile whilst all this was going on a man named Calvin had said a few words in France in Mar 1549 which had resulted in 5 of Franconia's provinces converting to Reformed making Franconia now one of the most diverse religious nation in Europe.


Political Map of Europe, Apr 1549


The New World, Apr 1549 - North America, South America, North Africa, South Africa

Melchior looked and the maps and planned his long awaited colonization based on what was already taken and what was feasible. All of South America except the horn had been claimed by the Spanish and Portuguese whilst the Spanish had command of the isthmus and Cuba. The Lesser Antilles were shared between the other European powers whilst England and France were fighting for the St Lawrence. West Africa still had some free provinces, the ones the Portuguese hadn’t wanted, whilst the Tip of Africa was largely undiscovered and uncolonised. Melchior was interested in Bermuda, Jamaica and the North American Coast; nobody had claimed any of the provinces on the coast between the Aztec Empire and the Nova Scotia. Melchior quickly sent colonists to setup trading posts in Louga, to be used as a stepping-stone to the south, Chesapeake and Bermuda. They were all established by October 1549.

The 4th Franco-Franco war
The year 1550 went quickly as Melchior, like a kid in candy store, had so many options but only so many colonists and funds. He upgraded his trading post in Chesapeake to a colony and failed in an attempt to harvest the lucrative sugar from Jamaica. In January 1551, old foe France declared war on Provence obviously hoping to cheaply gain back lost land. Melchior was obligated to join the war and he wouldn’t turn down a defensive war on France even if he wasn’t despite it also meant war against Genoa, Milan and Modena. Three regiments were already in the alpine region including the Ansbach Army who moved to the Italian front whilst the other two regiments moved on the French front. The main French army was in Langedoc preparing to invade Provence so Melchior sent one to defeat the lightly defended Lyonnais and lay siege whilst the other regiment went to support Provence. Meanwhile the Ansbach Army marched into Liguria and entered into a battle that lasted nearly 2 months. The regiment besieging Lyonnais was split and half sent to Languedoc once it was apparent the French were on the move. The battle of Provence went from February into March with the Franconian League allies winning out. The Genovians were finally defeated in Liguria in April and the Ansbach Army laid siege. The French retreated to Piemonte but were once again clearly beaten.

Meanwhile whilst all this fighting was going on in the French Alps Melchior had forgotten about his colonies. The French had just as informed maps as Franconia and knew of the colonies in Newfoundland. Melchior was shocked when he realized the French had landed there and captured the completely undefended New Ansbach. Melchior had one chance, during the peace after New Ansbach became a city he was able to build a 1000 man colonial guard which was stationed in Placentia. The French had only 2000 men so he thought he had a chance. They attacked New Ansbach in June but were unsuccessful and retreated to Gander to prevent the French from strutting into more undefended colonies. June also saw yet another regiment enter Lombardia and defeat the Milan force. It was then just a matter of waiting and guarding the sieges as Lyonnais fell in July and Languedoc in September. Those two regiments then enclosed on Cevennes, the only remaining French province in southern France.

In colonial Newfoundland the 2 small armies were doing circles capturing the province that the enemy had just left. Then the cunning French added an extra knife by destroying the trading post on Bermuda. Melchior decided that instead of defending Newfoundland he would go on the offensive and loaded his army of now only a few hundred onto his 1 galley and sailed to the undefended Isle Royale and captured it. The Italian provinces were proving harder to capture than the French with constant attempts of liberation requiring more troops to be sent to maintain the sieges. Over a year after it started the Milan siege was successful finishing in August 1552. It would take even longer for Genoa, almost 2 years, before it eventually fell in April 1553.

However with Franconia dominating the war, with the capture of Cevennes and a change in province ownership within sight, Melchior’s world turned on its head. A pompous, egomaniac by the name of Ulrich I, King of Wurtemberg decided he could give Franconia a run for its money. He may have been ambitious but Ulrich was no fool and he led by example by leading the armies into battle himself, quite effectively as well. With the support of Austria and Burgundy, Ulrich was confident he could end Melchior’s aggressive reign. Melchior himself scoffed at Ulrich and his arrogance. Franconia had spent too long crawling about Austria and Burgundy’s knees. Everytime they had fought Franconia has sought a quick peace to minimize the projected losses but this time Melchior wanted to make a stand. The friction between the parties grew late in 1552 and was heightened by Melchior’s ongoing success in the Franco-Franco war. The time came when Ulrich had had enough and declared war, this time was December 30 1552. The showdown of Central Europe was about to begin.

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Meanwhile around the neighbourhood...

• 1547 Milan cancels vassalisation with Genoa
• 1548 Denmark converts back to Catholicism
• 1548 Modena cancels vassalisation with Genoa
• 1551 Milan becomes genovian vassals again

Meanwhile around Europe...

• 1548 Bogutjar defects from Golden Horde to Russia
• 1548 Russia annexes Suzdal
• 1548 Gotland converts to Protestantism
• 1551 Austria annexes Serbia
• 1552 Cauz defects from Papal States to France
• 1552 Sweden annexes Skane

Coming soon... Chapter 16: The Showdown begins