A splendid update, and an unhappy end to a long and fruitful reign. Mary begins her reign with a loss on two fronts, and exhausted army and a war with the Turks. I am looking forward to seeing how she handles the challenges.
I did want you to know that I look forward to your updates. You tell a great story and the way you put together your updates are masterful.
Thank you for the compliment. I am not sure that the Turks can be "handled" right now; they have been thrashing the hell out of the Emperor's many troops. Doesn't look good for him.
Or uh, us, I mean.
Excellent update, however mournful the events in it. Reading about setbacks is indeed intriguing, to say the least.
Outstanding! I am very much impressed by your magnificent entry this time around. Well done.
Your update, as always, is a treat! Well-written, action-packed and this gorgeous map to it!
Thank you fellas, much appreciated! I don't mind a little tragedy as long as it doesn't devolve into an unrecoverable death spiral.
That's unlikely with the navy guarding the sea lanes, fortunately. But who knows what domestic mayhem might happen in the Reformation.
Ouch...but I'm sure that the French will get theirs
Well, I sure hope so. With France and Castile turning hostile and Austria being a bump on a log, I am starting to wonder if I even have a shot at keeping Normandy anymore.
But for England's help they wouldn't have pulled it through and... they decided to be a fly on the wall when you needed them. Such ingratitude!
It certainly has made me re-evaluate their long-term worth as an ally. But the Austrians do run into trouble of their own soon, and I am similarly... helpful.
Indeed but upheaval it inadverently led to proved anything but 'minor'. It was honourable to stand by Navarre. Shame its days are most likely numbered now. (goes aside to shed a tear)
It's lasted through about eight wars so far (four each by Aragon and Castile); I've only intervened in two (I think?
). My guess is they will continue holding out until the advent of cannons, and then bye-bye Navarre. I did briefly think about trying to annex them into Greater Gascony but gave it a pass. As revenge for my thrashing by Castile, it will now be a minor goal to pry Vizcaya away from Spain and hand it to Navarre—if it's still independent.
Yes, transports are all-important when one controls scattered territories. I admit I'm surprised you did NOT manage to beat Castillian navy. did they have more naval NIs? Some modifier? Advisor? Or... played smartly?
Castile played smartly and I tried to do things stupidly and on the cheap. I was grossly overconfident about the ability of the Navy. Too used to fighting 40-galley fleets with 20-odd ships of my own. I also only had one admiral, and very often he was not in the vicinity when Castile struck. So sometimes they would be fighting with an admiral and me without, or vice-versa. We didn't have a good knock-down fight with the whole fleet, except for the first battle. And I didn't put a big dent in them then.
Their ship mix was good, too. They had fewer big ships and transports, but more small ships and galleys. I am guessing it was the small ships that carved up my transports. I didn't even check their NIs, could be that too.
I told you Gibraltar might be more trouble than its worth. In this conflict, even if it hadn't fallen, it had required your constant attention AND recourses (cogs, manpower, timing).
Yes, you were correct there. Although I did try to leave it alone until the siege got close to capitulation. It will be even more trouble if Castile forms Spain, because then they will get cores back on Gibraltar and the (Portuguese-owned) Canaries.
And I'm also surprised that, while having trouble with Castile, it rurned out so easy to oust the naval power of OE. Especially with the "Decreased Crew Morale" you got later. Are galleys really so inferior?
I don't think the OE fought with an admiral, and I did. I think the single-ship-type navy is the kiss of death, inland seas or not. And the OE rarely builds the faster small ships. A wad of them is probably worth twice as many galleys.
EDIT: Oh, and I only took out a quarter of their fleet in each battle, instead of the whole thing in one epic engagement (as in the crusade).
I fear France will vassalise these territories in no time.
Is Saintes lost too? It shouldn't have an Armagnac core.
Couldn't you have bought Castile with 25d earlier? Or 100d? In my Oman game when I sneakily stole Goa from the Portuguese (they got it - so unfairly -for free), Vija...(I'll never learn to spell it
) kept attacking me regularly and each time I managed to wiggle out for about 100d.
I don't think France will go for the long-term subtlety of vassalage and diplo-annexation when they can just tear it into chunks with the huge army. No one is dumb enough to get suckered into an alliance with Armagnac (though I did think about it).
Saintonge is still mine, yes. For how long, I don't even want to guess. It will still be home to a garrison force, though.
EDIT: 100 ducats?! Okay big spender, we'll be drinking on
your tab.
I tried to buy Castile off with 25d after France leapt in, but by then it was too late. Whatever capacity-judging routine the AI uses suddenly saw "JACKPOT" come up and said "screw you" to my peace offers. Unfortunately my inner Scrooge McDuck is aghast at the idea of coughing up 100d in a peace deal. Why when he was a duckling, 100d was the better part of a year's wages...
I bet it was. This is one of the potentially richest regions on EU map. And think of all the money that has been invested there!
I drink to forget.
RIP. Long live Mary I! Btw, how old is she? And is she married to a Habsburg or an Askanien? I got lost. It seems her late sister planned to hold on the unlikely Union with the Empire. Is is doable after such a blow to the country's prestige? Is there a chance that the ongoing war with the Ottomans (this hasn't been concluded yet, right? or is it two wars? one being fought by England, the other by the Empire; because I remember the Empire rushing to assist the Knights before) will improve Mary I's standing?
Mary's just one year younger than Jane (so she's 60). She was married to Maximilian von Habsburg before the von Askaniens inherited the Archduchy. I could not find much online data on a von Askanien noble house so I have fudged the record here by assuming that they are cousins.
Hanging on to the Eastern Roman Empire is more or less assured now that they have both religious and political autonomy. I granted those concessions for RP reasons, but for gameplay would have preferred to deny them just to poison-pill the union. If the worst comes to pass and I inherit, I will just sell the lot to Greece. There is a possibility that my plummeting prestige will also kill the union but I don't know how likely that is, or if the autonomy bonuses override it.
Ottomans are fighting two wars; Knights/Byzantium and Austria/England/Balkan Potluck Special. I think the Knights war may have wound down; don't know as I paid virtually no attention to it. Have to check the savegame and see.