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The update, though looking uninteresting at first turned into a war with the Infidel!

That's pretty much how the gameplay went as well. Nothing of interest happening for years, then suddenly a huge opportunity like that.

Booh, Bohemia crumbling :(.

Heh, I understand if you disagree but I'm fine with that. ;)

looks like Bohemia is on the way out. Are you sure about the Turks, you may need to chew fairly deep into their holdings to get the warscore to clear them out the Baltic?

Yeah it probably won't be easy to get all of those provinces, but at least the first one proved simple enough. I'm going to have to be quite persistent I guess. If it gets really problematic I do have the navy to launch some kind of an invasion to their homeland.

You have just enough time for two more wars, don't you?

Not really. The truce runs out in late 1644 so I'd have to win the next war in just a few months to have that truce end while it's still 1649. Not realistic I'm afraid.

And "huge hit"? Unless I'm forgetting something Bohemia has lost access to the Baltic entirely!

Doesn't that qualify as a huge hit? :D

The Silent Syndics years must have had sth to do with the lack of 'boundary disputes', I guess. It's not that there was no action and there's nothing wrong with gaining one more province in the East. But shouldn't the South be the priority?

Tell that to the random number generator. ;) Not much I can do unless I get a core in the south.

And yes, that's the reason behind the silence, caused by not having high DIP of course.

If the Ottoman AI is up to speed on Brunswick's expansion techniques, those Baltc provinces it owns will be removed from the HRE forthwith. Those Talken's are keeping the Republic going singlehandedly. As for France, marriage into and inheriting would seem to me to be the best course of action. Castille looks to have all it needs to become Spain, but hasn't. Any reason why not?

The AI doesn't seem too keen on removing provinces from the Empire fortunately.

There are indeed plenty of Talkens, a minor like Brunswick only has so many potential leader names in the game so there's going to be a lot of repetition.

I can't go the inheritance route outside the German culture group - you only get cores upon inheritance on same culture group provinces in this version of the game.

History_Buff already explained the Spanish situation.

look closely at the map, they don't have Barcelona

Like how your doing so far. The best part about your expansion rule is that you don't have to wait 50 years for those provinces to start being productive. The only annoying thing is that you have to wait for a core to pop on that last province you need to form Germany, which is probably getting VERY annoying for you.

I can't say that I'm too annoyed now, after all the Baltic connection looks imminent and that's a big step forward.

Yeah it's great economically that I'm all cored. The relatively low province count, while being a problem in things like manpower (early on) and force limits (even now to some extent), has its pros as well.

I guess they deserved it.

And expel the Turks out of the baltic! :p

That's the plan! :)
 
1639-1647: France Chooses Unwisely​

After the convincing victory against the heathen Ottomans, an election victory for Talken was a given.

When former Brunswicker vassal Flanders was integrated into the country nearly fifty years earlier, the national archive had been all but abandoned - until recently, that is. A group of researchers from the university of Brabant had been going through the paperwork and managed to unearth documents that proved that the province of Artois should have been a part of the duchy. Talken convinced the international community that this claim should be transferred to him as Brunswick's ruler.

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For the rest of the year, the Syndic sought to prove wrong the earlier belief that Brunswick's trade and production methods were as open and unrestricted as possible. His findings led to new legislation, coming into effect in the beginning of 1641, that strengthened the nation's economy even further.

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Meanwhile, one of the war college's officers finished some major design improvements that made Brunswick's artillery more maneuverable, thus improving its performance on the battlefield. General Lindemann planned new artillery tactics that maximized the benefits.

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Tragically, that was one of the heroic general's last acts. In August, one of the newest recruits for Brunswick's army was practicing at the shooting range near Hannover. Unfortunately, he was an exceptionally bad shot and managed to shoot the passing general to death. Lindemann received a funeral worthy of his lofty accomplishments; the recruit's fate is not known.

Regardless of what became of the individual, the incident worried Talken. Was Brunswick's military becoming less proficient? To ensure that that wouldn't be the case, the Syndic released new guidelines, according to which people even from the lowest social classes would be eligible for whatever positions and ranks their skills and merit called for. The guidelines didn't please everyone immediately, but in the long term they made sure that the soldiers and officers would be as competent as ever.

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Early 1642 featured some changes in Europe. A small part of the Palatinate's French territory defected to France while, more notably, Bohemia recovered from its losses somewhat by annexing Styria. Still, the nation was cut in half due to the earlier Ottoman attack.

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An epidemic struck Brunswick in the summer of 1643. Thanks to swift quarantine procedures and medical efforts that spared no expense the effect on the nation as a whole was minimal, but unfortunately central Hannover was one of the problem areas. General Wassman and philosopher Ickelrath were among the dead.

After the epidemic was over, the latter was replaced by Erich Hattendorf.

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The nobles commended Talken for his stellar effort in dealing with the difficult situation, and few voted against him in the imminent election.

For several years, people and goods had been moving between Sandomierz and Brunswick's Baltic lands through Mazovia. As a result, Brunswick's friendly influence was felt all over the province, and for opponents of Mazovia's current status as a vassal under Bohemia, deeper cooperation with Brunswick seemed like a much more pleasing alternative.

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Naturally, the Bohemian king wasn't as thrilled when the idea was brought up with him. Mazovia had to be liberated by force, so war was declared in April 1645.

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Bohemia's main army was located in Ratibor on the Brunswicker border, and newly promoted general Franz Brach pushed through in May. The enemy forces were utterly devastated, and Brach started the long journey across Brunswick towards the more dangerous France.

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With Bohemian defenses humiliated, peace was signed in July. The vassalization of Mazovia was ended, and the Bohemian king had to give up claims on Brunswicker and Ottoman territory.

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Fortunately, the French front was silent until August. This gave general Brach ample time to reach Köln by the time French troops attempted to cross the border there. The talented general's men caused immense casualties, and despite reinforcements the enemy army was routed weeks later in Luxemburg.

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For the next couple of months, Brunswick kept hammering at small French armies and occupying border provinces. In a short separate war, Mazovia was annexed in October.

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And here we see the whole nation, as was requested earlier.

It seemed that the French conflict would take a while still, but this was only due to the large area that Brunswick's armies had to cover as resistance was all but over. As such, Talken felt free to concentrate on other matters, convincing the inhabitants of Hinterpommern that they'd be safer under Brunswick by January 1646. The Ottoman threat in the Baltic might have played a part in the Pommeranians' decision.

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Two months later, Milan was broken into even smaller parts as Naples forced them to release Mantua. Meanwhile, Great Britain annexed their vassal Normandy.

The occupation of the port in Languedoc brought an extra benefit as the flagship of the French navy, le Content, was captured when it tried to flee from the suddenly hostile harbor. The next month, all of France was under Brunswicker occupation.

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In the resulting peace agreement, nearly a half of their territory was taken away from the French crown as most of the northern provinces were divided between Lorraine and Champagne, with the former getting most of the land.

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A long war between Milan and the Ottomans had prevented a Brunswicker attack on the Ottoman Baltic territories as they were under Milanese occupation. That conflict finally ended in December, but Brunswick couldn't react immediately as the Ukraine sought to reconquer Krakow, recently liberated by the Golden Horde and subsequently placed under Brunswicker protection.

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The war was a relatively simple one as the enemy coalition of the Ukraine, Sweden, Hungary and Pommerania was weak compared to Brunswick.

Unlike many wars where Brunswick had protected its smaller neighbors, this one would have tangible benefits for the nation. As Brunswick had a proper claim on Hinterpommern, Pommerania was annexed in May 1647.

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While peace with the rest of the enemies a few months later was secured for only a tiny indemnity, the war was a significant one thanks to the Pommeranian annexation.

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You did a number on France.

I hadn't spotted that Barcelona wasn't part of Castille. I am just wondering why Castille hasn't taken Barcelona, yet?

You linked your Baltic lands and gained Pommerania.
Don't leave the poor people of Artois under the backwards bishop of Liege.
 
Good work but the plague was worrying. What next, volcanos?
 
You may want to get MA from Otomans to help them deal with any rebelions, untill the 5 years of truce will pass. They are heathens and unlawfull occcupiers, but rising against your formal liege is never a gentlemany thing... and it will not be so easy to get provinces from the rebelious states that gain independance ;)
 
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I am amazed every time I remember that you gained all that while playing the nice guy. A great looking country.

Thanks. :) It's just a matter of trying to get the most out of the few tools for expansion I have here.

You did a number on France.

I hadn't spotted that Barcelona wasn't part of Castille. I am just wondering why Castille hasn't taken Barcelona, yet?

If there's an actual benefit to not being able to take any land in many peace deals, it's that force releasing can really mess up your enemies. ;)

It's difficult to say with Castille, there's no obvious reason.

You linked your Baltic lands and gained Pommerania.
Don't leave the poor people of Artois under the backwards bishop of Liege.

Mazovia is useful, I could actually get the Baltic connection by just taking one more province from the Ottomans. I won't do so though as the Ottoman holdings in the region don't seem exactly secure and I want to make sure that I can get all of those provinces.

Artois is a bit problematic. It's the capital of a 2PM and I'm not bordering the other province, so unless I get outside help it might be a while before I can "liberate" Artois.

well done for wailing on France ... always such a fun part of EU3 (unless, of course, you are playing France) ... and a nice steady stream of border CBs to keep your expansion nice and legal too

Thanks, wars with France are certainly an institution in EU III.

Wow, Brunswick is quite massive. And France really got bashed :D.

Yes, we're becoming large enough for the rule set. :)

Good work but the plague was worrying. What next, volcanos?

:rofl: It's a good thing that natural disasters aren't quite so prevalent in vanilla.

No,next up is zombies.

Interesting theory... :eek:

Nice bashing on France there, and it seems that you can expand faster with awful charters than without them... :D

Haha true, they're an important part of our society! :p

You may want to get MA from Otomans to help them deal with any rebelions, untill the 5 years of truce will pass. They are heathens and unlawfull occcupiers, but rising against your formal liege is never a gentlemany thing... and it will not be so easy to get provinces from the rebelious states that gain independance ;)

I actually did try that IIRC, but the chance is Impossible. It's true that it would be really bad for me if the Ottomans lost those provinces to someone else.

Suddenly you're hurtling toward the long-awaited Baltic connection! What a lucky few years!

Indeed! That Ottoman expansion was a great boon to my plans.
 
1647-1649: Unlikely Allies

The world was slowly changing: most countries had started to take a more tolerant position towards religions other than their own, and as a result the age of the Crusades was pretty much over. Brunswick's declaration of war on the Ottomans on the basis of wanting to drive the heathens out of Europe was clearly frowned upon, and Syndic Talken realized that such reasoning wouldn't fly in the future.

The Ottomans' Baltic holdings were under Brunswicker occupation by November. The current situation was good and Talken had had a successful term, but the threat from a much-ado-about-nothing populist caused him to look for a way to further secure his re-election. Like many Brunswicker rulers, he boosted his popularity by diplomatic means, developing support for Brunswicker rule in Liege.

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As such, the election was won. The populist wasn't heard of again as he inadvertently revealed his incompetence before Talken's term was up again.

The fleet under Christian Franz Wassman reached Ottoman shores by January 1648. As soon as the area had been checked for enemy naval presence the Brunswicker ships spread to blockade the Ottoman Mediterranean ports. The coverage was total by mid-April.

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This was too much for the Ottoman sultan and Brunswick took over Warmia as per the peace agreement. The Milanese war had changed Ottoman views on the region - now they figured that they'd be safer without access to the Baltic Sea as enemies couldn't land troops.

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Additionally, Ottomans were forced to release Sharjah and Haasa as sovereign states, as the lands in question were so remote that even Brunswick's navy couldn't reach them.

Haasa's liberation turned out to be a bit problematic. Soon afterwards, a letter from the nation reached the Syndic's office in Hannover. In it, the Haasa administration sent thanks for their freedom and told the Syndic that Haasa expected Brunswicker protection from now on. Talken wanted to politely inform Haasa that Brunswick didn't typically protect Muslims, and in fact even if he wanted to help he couldn't as Haasa was simply too far away for any Brunswicker military operations. Unfortunately such an answer couldn't be sent as the letter didn't include a return address and no-one could figure out where the Haasa administration resided.

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In these unfortunate circumstances Talken saw no choice but to act as if Brunswick and Haasa were allied. The Haasa administration seemed to assume that was the case, and the Syndic thought that it would be extremely rude to deny the existence of an alliance unilaterally without first informing Haasa of their mistake.

Meanwhile, as Brunswicker officials took over the government buildings in Warmia, some old correspondence between the Bohemian and Hessian monarchs was found. By chance, the letters seemed to prove that the province of Hesse should actually be a part of Brunswick.

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Instead of going for Hesse, Talken decided to recover the rightfully Brunswicker Liege, declaring war on Hainaut in November. Brunswick was up against quite a coalition, including Great Britain and France, but did have Haasa standing by her side. Predictably, any of Haasa's declarations didn't include the desired return address.

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Unlike in most recent wars, Brunswick's side was outnumbered. However, Brunswick had a smaller area to cover with its men than Hainaut and friends.

Early in the war, Liege was successfully assaulted and several British and French transport fleets sunk. Then in February 1649, Hainaut was occupied, enabling the signing of peace with the original target. In the agreement, Brunswick gained the province of Liege and nearly one thousand ducats.

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Over the next months the British lost many more ships, while Brunswick's efforts on land concentrated on France. Valenciennes and Berry were occupied by April, and the French agreed to a separate peace that gave the tiny nation of Avignon its freedom.

Two months later, Guyenne was asked to publicly announce that Brunswick had won the war. When their king agreed to this, all hostilities were ceased.

The French didn't let the loss of Avignon keep them down, quite the opposite. The nation of Champagne met its end relatively peacefully in September as all of its lands - the provinces of Nemours and Vermandois - legally defected to France.

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Soon after, more good news from the former Ottoman provinces reached Brunswick. After the earlier findings in Warmia, greater attention was paid to any documents in Sandomierz. As a result, local claims to Sieradz were discovered. As Brunswick's Syndic held the title of Sandomierz, he was also the rightful ruler of Sieradz.

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The few records left behind by the Ottomans were also carefully studied. Among them was a map that included comprehensive information about the lands around the Persian Gulf, previously unknown to Brunswick. Perhaps most importantly, Karl Talken now knew where to find the Haasa administration. A friendly letter was sent to Al Hasa, describing the earlier misunderstanding and thanking Haasa for honorably following their doctrine of choice in the war for Liege.

Brunswick was alone again.
 
I'll miss Haasa. They were great, off in cloudy white land. I assume they are a Republican enclave in a sea of Monarchies. Hopefully they aren't swallowed up immediately.
 
Cores on two TPM capitals? That'll be a drain on your Prestige for a while. And you might end up losing Artois anyway; you'll need to be lucky enough to core Calais, then lucky enough to core Picardie within 50 years.

At least you've got the core you need for the Baltic connection.
 
I am not quite sure, but is there a chance to get both Ottoman provinces in one war now? One is a core, the other one becomes a core after the reconquered HRE province event happens...

And furthermore, Haasa must be allied :mad: