This AAR is about the first six or seven years of a Saxony game I played with one of the most recent beta test builds of Europa Universalis III. It is told largely as a story; however, I will insert game-specific details in green text like this, as well as some supporting screen shots which I will label with gold text where appropriate.
While not a long story, I will present it as a series of short instalments which should be a manageable length to easily read in a sitting. Also, I have taken a few minor liberties with accuracy to make the story more entertaining to read. Don't take everything I say at face value (although I won't write about anything that is blatantly false.
With that said, here is the first instalment -- the introduction and an overview of the things I did at the beginning of the game, prior to un-pausing. In most cases you won't need to do all of this stuff right away; but I had a specific goal in mind that I wanted to achieve as rapidly as possible. To do so, I spent some time right at the beginning to get me moving more quickly in that direction.
Friedrich's Ambition - Part I
It was on May 30th, I the year of our Lord 1453, that Friedrich II of Saxony first heard the dreadful news of the fall of Constantinople to the Turk. Rather than berate the eastern Romans for their failure to secure that once-proud city, or to criticise his Holiness the Pope for his failure to incite the faithful against the heathen scum call The Ottomans, Friedrich looked far closer to home for his culprit.
In matters of the flesh, he reasoned, it was the duty of the Holy Roman Emperor, in the person of young Ladislaus of Austria, to protect Christendom from the scourge of the east. Had Friedrich been Emperor, he would have united all of the many German States in his worthy cause, and met them with pike and lance on the battlefields of the Middle East.
But no, Ladislaus had not done that, nor his father before him; and now there was a palpable storm cloud to the east that would take God-only-knew-what to stop. Hungary was already embroiled in the war; but could not look to its western border for aid. When the Turk moved, it would be Hungary and her allies that would have to serve as the bastillion of Christendom.
Or…perhaps not. What if a new Emperor rose to Germany's sacred throne who was willing to thwart the Muslim hordes? If Ladislaus would not fight, perhaps they were not worthy of the Seal of the Emperor. Perhaps someone more worthy of that mantle should be crowned, and take up the sword of Christ against the enemy.
As one of the seven hereditary electors of the Holy Roman Empire, Friedrich took his duty seriously. Upon the death of the Emperor a diet would be held, and he and his six equals would elect the next Emperor -- the ruler who would unite all of the German States and bend them to his will. In his castle, on that darkest of days, Friedrich secretly determined that this would be the case, and that he, himself, would be the next to wear that golden crown.
Had he mentioned this to anyone else, they would surely have laughed at Friedrich's secret ambition. How could a ruler of lands that encompassed only four provinces seek to gain the crown, when the Austrian crown held eight? How could an upstart with an army that numbered only two regiments -- one thousand infantry and a similar number of knights and their men-at-arms -- seek to challenge the awesome Imperial might?
[Saxony army of 1k medieval latin infantry and 1k latin knights]
While not a long story, I will present it as a series of short instalments which should be a manageable length to easily read in a sitting. Also, I have taken a few minor liberties with accuracy to make the story more entertaining to read. Don't take everything I say at face value (although I won't write about anything that is blatantly false.
With that said, here is the first instalment -- the introduction and an overview of the things I did at the beginning of the game, prior to un-pausing. In most cases you won't need to do all of this stuff right away; but I had a specific goal in mind that I wanted to achieve as rapidly as possible. To do so, I spent some time right at the beginning to get me moving more quickly in that direction.
Here is a zoomed-out political map of the region. Saxony is the light purple highlighted country a little above the center of the map.
* * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
Friedrich's Ambition - Part I
It was on May 30th, I the year of our Lord 1453, that Friedrich II of Saxony first heard the dreadful news of the fall of Constantinople to the Turk. Rather than berate the eastern Romans for their failure to secure that once-proud city, or to criticise his Holiness the Pope for his failure to incite the faithful against the heathen scum call The Ottomans, Friedrich looked far closer to home for his culprit.
In matters of the flesh, he reasoned, it was the duty of the Holy Roman Emperor, in the person of young Ladislaus of Austria, to protect Christendom from the scourge of the east. Had Friedrich been Emperor, he would have united all of the many German States in his worthy cause, and met them with pike and lance on the battlefields of the Middle East.
But no, Ladislaus had not done that, nor his father before him; and now there was a palpable storm cloud to the east that would take God-only-knew-what to stop. Hungary was already embroiled in the war; but could not look to its western border for aid. When the Turk moved, it would be Hungary and her allies that would have to serve as the bastillion of Christendom.
Or…perhaps not. What if a new Emperor rose to Germany's sacred throne who was willing to thwart the Muslim hordes? If Ladislaus would not fight, perhaps they were not worthy of the Seal of the Emperor. Perhaps someone more worthy of that mantle should be crowned, and take up the sword of Christ against the enemy.
As one of the seven hereditary electors of the Holy Roman Empire, Friedrich took his duty seriously. Upon the death of the Emperor a diet would be held, and he and his six equals would elect the next Emperor -- the ruler who would unite all of the German States and bend them to his will. In his castle, on that darkest of days, Friedrich secretly determined that this would be the case, and that he, himself, would be the next to wear that golden crown.
Had he mentioned this to anyone else, they would surely have laughed at Friedrich's secret ambition. How could a ruler of lands that encompassed only four provinces seek to gain the crown, when the Austrian crown held eight? How could an upstart with an army that numbered only two regiments -- one thousand infantry and a similar number of knights and their men-at-arms -- seek to challenge the awesome Imperial might?
[Saxony army of 1k medieval latin infantry and 1k latin knights]
A close-up of Saxony in May 1453, showing the geographic terrain of the four-province country and a few of the surrounding provinces.
Quite simply, Friedrich thought. To win the crown one did not have to win the field. One merely had to win the support of a simple majority of the electors. He would, of course, cast his own vote for himself. To achieve his own election, he need simply convince enough of the others to support him so that no other State could receive a greater share of the votes. This was the stuff of politics and back-room dealing -- at which Friedrich was very adept -- and not a contest of brute force.
[Friedrich II, King of Saxony (a feudal monarchy) Admin 7, Diplo 6, Military 3]
Of course it would not merely be so simple as dispatching a few envoys (although this he would also do) because the various rulers were notoriously unreliable in their dealings with one another and their opinions could change with the beating of the heart. No, he would need to achieve a degree of power, and to demonstrate his worthiness. He would need to establish family ties and national alliances to bolster his cause. He would need to maintain an impeccable reputation and achieve a measure of prestige. In short, he must almost act as Emperor before ever he would wear the crown.
And, because the Imperial throne was held for life, young Ladislaus must die. Friedrich, being a devout and faithful man, would not undertake to depose the Austrian monarch himself. He would strive to achieve the rest, and let God choose whether he was worthy when the time came.
To that end, Friedrich took stock of his nation. Each of his four provinces boasted a modest castle, which he took great care to ensure were fully garrisoned. His lands, while not rich like some of those in the west, were sufficient to meet his modest needs. By being frugal, he need not take any of his monthly taxes and use them to mint gold. His annual tithes amounted to nearly twenty ducats; and this was more than enough to pay the half-ducat monthly maintenance requirements of his small army and still leave enough to put a modest amount aside in his treasury for times of greater need. Indeed, his treasury already held the vast sum of nearly forty ducats already!
[Monthly income 4.2d and annual tithe 19.2.1d. Army maintenance of 0.4d/mo. Set budget to 0 treasury thus allowing a monthly deficit that is covered by annual tithe and thus 0% rate of inflation.]
Thus, he reasoned, he could avoid siphoning any of his monthly tax income -- slightly more than four ducats -- and devote all of it towards researching new technological advances that would keep him competitive with his neighbours. To date, he had managed the affairs of his realm by himself; but if his plan was to come to fruition he decided that he would need to employ at least one or two advisors to assist him and supplement his skills. To that end, after some consideration, Friedrich settled on two worthy nobles who would join him at court.
The first was a talented artist by the name of Gilles Binchois. His steady flow of masterpieces, when displayed, would make the public much happier about living in such a magnificent realm. Although the cost to hire him was exorbitant -- four ducats! -- and the salary he demanded of nearly half a ducat each month was as much as the cost to maintain the Saxony army, in the long run the increased stability in the realm would be worth it. [Hired a skill 4 artist, 4d +0.4d/mo salary to give +12 monthly stability investment]
The other advisor to join the court was, admittedly, not nearly so skilled a man; but the budget could only support a limited degree of extravagance. Alexander Arnim was reputedly a competent treasurer and would help to contribute somewhat towards improvements in the field of trade. His three-ducat honorarium was a bit steep, but he required little on a monthly basis in wages. [Hired a skill 1 treasurer, 3d + 0.3d/mo salary to give +3 monthly trade tech investment.]
Needless to say, an army of a mere two thousand souls would impress no one -- in fact it was perilously small even to dissuade any neighbours with less-than-honourable intentions from initiating hostilities. To rectify this, Friedrich ordered the recruitment of one thousand more knights and their aides to be conducted in the capital province of Meissen where the nation's army was currently located. Although this would necessitate the training of much of pool of able-bodied men, more would come of age and be willing to fight in the future.
The cost of this initiative was high, leaving barely enough gold in the treasury to see the ruler through the balance of the year -- provided that he skimped somewhat on the monthly needs of his existing army. They would grumble somewhat, but he'd make it up to them later and ensure that their needs were fully met before he would ask them to engage a foe.
[National manpower pool of 1447 men, with max of 2157 and monthly replenishment of about 100 from the provinces. Used 1000 to recruit 1 more regiment of latin cavalry at a cost of 16.7d. After that, and the advisors, I have a balance of about 14d to carry me through the rest of the year. I set army maintenance to about half, hoping I don't get involved in a war during the remaining 7 months of the year.]
Having thus determined that his immediate needs were met, Friedrich carefully allocated his monthly tax income fairly equally between research in the four fields that he felt would be most beneficial to the long-term interest of the country: new advances in government, production, trade and land-based military equipment. He did not feel it necessary to invest at all in improving his country's stability, since he trusted that his new advisor, Gilles Binchois, would be more than suitable for that task; nor did he bother to consider any innovations in naval technology (for what use would his land-locked country have for those?).
[Set budget: 1.2/mo government; 1.0/mo production; 1.0/mo trade; 1.0/mo land; 0 naval, 0 stability, 0 treasury. Monthly deficit approximately 1d against annual tithe of 19.2 should give about 7 ducats left over -- not much, but I'm a small and relatively basic country so that's not too bad. Note that I begin the game (as do most European nations) with trade tech 1 that allows me to send merchants.]
While the small amount of remaining gold would need to be horded to pay his advisors and at least somewhat placate the military, there would come a time in the future where he hoped this would all have been worthwhile. Although he looked wistfully at the idea of sending a merchant to the wealthy center of trade in Lubeck, there was no such person available at the time to be funded, nor were the realm's domestic policies favourable towards such efforts at this time.
Although Friedrich knew his people would be somewhat upset by his actions -- they resented any change, it seemed -- he instituted a slight shift in his nation's policies towards free subjects and away from serfdom. Oh well…that would give Binchois something to do. In the long run it would help to improve the country's productivity, the morale of the troops, and the might even help to make the general public less inclined to listen to any other nations' agents. Of course this would mean that the lower classes would expect a little more in their pockets when being asked to join the military, and they would be somewhat harder to impress in general.
[Stab drops -1 to a value of 0 as DP change +1 free subjects giving slightly increased production efficiency, higher land morale, better spy defence, but also higher cost to recruit infantry and higher stab investment requirement.]
[Domestic Policies are now: Aristocracy/Plutocracy -2, Innovative/Narrowminded +1, Mercantile/Free Trade -3, Land/Naval -1, Quality/Quantity 0, Serfdom/Free Subjects -3 (was -4).]
[0 merchants in pool and DP and stab level makes gain rate only 0.85 per year -- also DP really doesn't favour competition so will have to ignore trade centers for now (even if I could afford the 2+ ducats per attempt to send them). Maybe later…]
Having devoted his attention to any domestic affairs that seemed to demand it, Friedrich now turned his attention to the far weightier problem of how to fulfill his desire to be crowned the next Holy Roman Emperor. To do this, he would need to curry that favour of at least one more elector than any other possible candidate might have. While it was possible that he would emerge victorious in the case of a tie in the voting, the chances of this happening were exceedingly small. Friedrich lacked the prestige and size to win the deciding vote.
It was a moot point, anyway, since it was widely known that the current front-runner was the ruler of Baden who enjoyed the support of three of the electors. The three remaining electors had differing opinions, with none of them in favour of Saxony. Friedrich's southern neighbour, the King of five-province Bohemia, would vote for himself since the cultural differences tended to keep him at the fringes of the rest of the electorate. The ruler of Brandenburg, to the north, would also push his own cause. The archbishops of Cologne and Mainz seemed firmly in support of Baden; as did the ruler of the Palatinate. And finally, the archbishop of Trier was a known supported of Hesse -- although in the Empire, such things were known to change (and frequently at that!). If Ladislaus were to die tomorrow, Baden would clearly hold the balance of the votes and would gain the Imperial crown.
Lacking the funds to supply suitable gifts that might sway the princes of the Church; Friedrich decided to focus his immediate attention on improving his relationship with the monarchies since this could be achieved by cementing bonds in blood. Although he knew this would involve a great risk for the future of his realm if there were quarrels over succession, the risks were outweighed by the reward; and thus he dutifully set his hand to making three proposals of marriage between members of his immediate family and the bloodlines of Bohemia, Brandenburg, and the Palatinate. These he would send using three of his five available diplomats, giving them the fastest horses available, and then await a reply.
As an afterthought, he inked one final marriage proposal to the Emperor himself. Although he sought the lad's overthrow, it was foolhardy in the extreme to fall into displeasure of the Imperial court. Besides, he reasoned, if he was to gain the crown it would not be through war; so this gesture would keep the Emperor happy and give him less reason to suspect anything untoward -- although surely Ladislaus was aware that the electorate was not currently in favour of seeing another Hapsburg on the throne. It would be interesting to see what the Emperor did about that…
[Sent royal marriage proposals to Bohemia, Brandenburg, Palatinate, and Austria. Kept 1 diplomat available in case of need.]
If you would like to comment, please use the comments thread since this one will be closed so it's easy to add new instalments to later.
Quite simply, Friedrich thought. To win the crown one did not have to win the field. One merely had to win the support of a simple majority of the electors. He would, of course, cast his own vote for himself. To achieve his own election, he need simply convince enough of the others to support him so that no other State could receive a greater share of the votes. This was the stuff of politics and back-room dealing -- at which Friedrich was very adept -- and not a contest of brute force.
[Friedrich II, King of Saxony (a feudal monarchy) Admin 7, Diplo 6, Military 3]
Of course it would not merely be so simple as dispatching a few envoys (although this he would also do) because the various rulers were notoriously unreliable in their dealings with one another and their opinions could change with the beating of the heart. No, he would need to achieve a degree of power, and to demonstrate his worthiness. He would need to establish family ties and national alliances to bolster his cause. He would need to maintain an impeccable reputation and achieve a measure of prestige. In short, he must almost act as Emperor before ever he would wear the crown.
And, because the Imperial throne was held for life, young Ladislaus must die. Friedrich, being a devout and faithful man, would not undertake to depose the Austrian monarch himself. He would strive to achieve the rest, and let God choose whether he was worthy when the time came.
To that end, Friedrich took stock of his nation. Each of his four provinces boasted a modest castle, which he took great care to ensure were fully garrisoned. His lands, while not rich like some of those in the west, were sufficient to meet his modest needs. By being frugal, he need not take any of his monthly taxes and use them to mint gold. His annual tithes amounted to nearly twenty ducats; and this was more than enough to pay the half-ducat monthly maintenance requirements of his small army and still leave enough to put a modest amount aside in his treasury for times of greater need. Indeed, his treasury already held the vast sum of nearly forty ducats already!
[Monthly income 4.2d and annual tithe 19.2.1d. Army maintenance of 0.4d/mo. Set budget to 0 treasury thus allowing a monthly deficit that is covered by annual tithe and thus 0% rate of inflation.]
Thus, he reasoned, he could avoid siphoning any of his monthly tax income -- slightly more than four ducats -- and devote all of it towards researching new technological advances that would keep him competitive with his neighbours. To date, he had managed the affairs of his realm by himself; but if his plan was to come to fruition he decided that he would need to employ at least one or two advisors to assist him and supplement his skills. To that end, after some consideration, Friedrich settled on two worthy nobles who would join him at court.
The first was a talented artist by the name of Gilles Binchois. His steady flow of masterpieces, when displayed, would make the public much happier about living in such a magnificent realm. Although the cost to hire him was exorbitant -- four ducats! -- and the salary he demanded of nearly half a ducat each month was as much as the cost to maintain the Saxony army, in the long run the increased stability in the realm would be worth it. [Hired a skill 4 artist, 4d +0.4d/mo salary to give +12 monthly stability investment]
The other advisor to join the court was, admittedly, not nearly so skilled a man; but the budget could only support a limited degree of extravagance. Alexander Arnim was reputedly a competent treasurer and would help to contribute somewhat towards improvements in the field of trade. His three-ducat honorarium was a bit steep, but he required little on a monthly basis in wages. [Hired a skill 1 treasurer, 3d + 0.3d/mo salary to give +3 monthly trade tech investment.]
Needless to say, an army of a mere two thousand souls would impress no one -- in fact it was perilously small even to dissuade any neighbours with less-than-honourable intentions from initiating hostilities. To rectify this, Friedrich ordered the recruitment of one thousand more knights and their aides to be conducted in the capital province of Meissen where the nation's army was currently located. Although this would necessitate the training of much of pool of able-bodied men, more would come of age and be willing to fight in the future.
The cost of this initiative was high, leaving barely enough gold in the treasury to see the ruler through the balance of the year -- provided that he skimped somewhat on the monthly needs of his existing army. They would grumble somewhat, but he'd make it up to them later and ensure that their needs were fully met before he would ask them to engage a foe.
[National manpower pool of 1447 men, with max of 2157 and monthly replenishment of about 100 from the provinces. Used 1000 to recruit 1 more regiment of latin cavalry at a cost of 16.7d. After that, and the advisors, I have a balance of about 14d to carry me through the rest of the year. I set army maintenance to about half, hoping I don't get involved in a war during the remaining 7 months of the year.]
Having thus determined that his immediate needs were met, Friedrich carefully allocated his monthly tax income fairly equally between research in the four fields that he felt would be most beneficial to the long-term interest of the country: new advances in government, production, trade and land-based military equipment. He did not feel it necessary to invest at all in improving his country's stability, since he trusted that his new advisor, Gilles Binchois, would be more than suitable for that task; nor did he bother to consider any innovations in naval technology (for what use would his land-locked country have for those?).
[Set budget: 1.2/mo government; 1.0/mo production; 1.0/mo trade; 1.0/mo land; 0 naval, 0 stability, 0 treasury. Monthly deficit approximately 1d against annual tithe of 19.2 should give about 7 ducats left over -- not much, but I'm a small and relatively basic country so that's not too bad. Note that I begin the game (as do most European nations) with trade tech 1 that allows me to send merchants.]
While the small amount of remaining gold would need to be horded to pay his advisors and at least somewhat placate the military, there would come a time in the future where he hoped this would all have been worthwhile. Although he looked wistfully at the idea of sending a merchant to the wealthy center of trade in Lubeck, there was no such person available at the time to be funded, nor were the realm's domestic policies favourable towards such efforts at this time.
Although Friedrich knew his people would be somewhat upset by his actions -- they resented any change, it seemed -- he instituted a slight shift in his nation's policies towards free subjects and away from serfdom. Oh well…that would give Binchois something to do. In the long run it would help to improve the country's productivity, the morale of the troops, and the might even help to make the general public less inclined to listen to any other nations' agents. Of course this would mean that the lower classes would expect a little more in their pockets when being asked to join the military, and they would be somewhat harder to impress in general.
[Stab drops -1 to a value of 0 as DP change +1 free subjects giving slightly increased production efficiency, higher land morale, better spy defence, but also higher cost to recruit infantry and higher stab investment requirement.]
[Domestic Policies are now: Aristocracy/Plutocracy -2, Innovative/Narrowminded +1, Mercantile/Free Trade -3, Land/Naval -1, Quality/Quantity 0, Serfdom/Free Subjects -3 (was -4).]
[0 merchants in pool and DP and stab level makes gain rate only 0.85 per year -- also DP really doesn't favour competition so will have to ignore trade centers for now (even if I could afford the 2+ ducats per attempt to send them). Maybe later…]
Having devoted his attention to any domestic affairs that seemed to demand it, Friedrich now turned his attention to the far weightier problem of how to fulfill his desire to be crowned the next Holy Roman Emperor. To do this, he would need to curry that favour of at least one more elector than any other possible candidate might have. While it was possible that he would emerge victorious in the case of a tie in the voting, the chances of this happening were exceedingly small. Friedrich lacked the prestige and size to win the deciding vote.
It was a moot point, anyway, since it was widely known that the current front-runner was the ruler of Baden who enjoyed the support of three of the electors. The three remaining electors had differing opinions, with none of them in favour of Saxony. Friedrich's southern neighbour, the King of five-province Bohemia, would vote for himself since the cultural differences tended to keep him at the fringes of the rest of the electorate. The ruler of Brandenburg, to the north, would also push his own cause. The archbishops of Cologne and Mainz seemed firmly in support of Baden; as did the ruler of the Palatinate. And finally, the archbishop of Trier was a known supported of Hesse -- although in the Empire, such things were known to change (and frequently at that!). If Ladislaus were to die tomorrow, Baden would clearly hold the balance of the votes and would gain the Imperial crown.
Lacking the funds to supply suitable gifts that might sway the princes of the Church; Friedrich decided to focus his immediate attention on improving his relationship with the monarchies since this could be achieved by cementing bonds in blood. Although he knew this would involve a great risk for the future of his realm if there were quarrels over succession, the risks were outweighed by the reward; and thus he dutifully set his hand to making three proposals of marriage between members of his immediate family and the bloodlines of Bohemia, Brandenburg, and the Palatinate. These he would send using three of his five available diplomats, giving them the fastest horses available, and then await a reply.
As an afterthought, he inked one final marriage proposal to the Emperor himself. Although he sought the lad's overthrow, it was foolhardy in the extreme to fall into displeasure of the Imperial court. Besides, he reasoned, if he was to gain the crown it would not be through war; so this gesture would keep the Emperor happy and give him less reason to suspect anything untoward -- although surely Ladislaus was aware that the electorate was not currently in favour of seeing another Hapsburg on the throne. It would be interesting to see what the Emperor did about that…
[Sent royal marriage proposals to Bohemia, Brandenburg, Palatinate, and Austria. Kept 1 diplomat available in case of need.]
A map of the Holy Roman Empire
Member states are in dark green, electors in middle green, and Emperor (Austria) is light green.
Because my country is an elector but not covered by the fog of war, my middle-green appears lighter than the others.
Member states are in dark green, electors in middle green, and Emperor (Austria) is light green.
Because my country is an elector but not covered by the fog of war, my middle-green appears lighter than the others.
If you would like to comment, please use the comments thread since this one will be closed so it's easy to add new instalments to later.
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