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Jul 18, 2007
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FRANCE​

FrMo.png
The kingdom of snail and frog eaters. I was interested about them ever since i chose the 2nd foreign language i'm going to learn is french. And guess what was the first thing i learned? That it's a miracle they survived as a state, honestly, most wars lost, many french peoples died, and it created very witty humour about french military throughout the ages. I decided to change that. Start year is 1453, and i'm playing Magna Mundi IV. The quality is great, despite the 2-3 times slower game speed. It's the 2nd game i'm playing on Magna Mundi(the first one was a test), my 2nd AAR overall, and 1st Magna Mundi AAR.

What are my possible objectives? One by one, in time .
1) Cripple England early-game. Gain Gascon, and Calais. Later, (before or after 2)) establish a foothold in south England. (ex. Cornwall Plymouth)
2) Eliminate my vassals by absorbing them to my country.
3) Cripple Burgundy by taking a few French cores in Burgundy, or simply take it completely, for simply vassalize/diploannexing them.
4) Annex Brittany, fighting or not.
5) Eliminate England. Conquer Irish and Scottish states, also either by fire and sword, or beauty and perfume :D Which means unite Great Britain under the French banner.
6) If not yet conquered, Aragon is the next one to be conquered. If not them, then Spain. Too tough to chew? Then we'll take Portugal first. Either way, both of them must fall.
7) Gain all remaining french cores (ex. Lombard)
8) Since there is no longer any threat on that matter, become a colonial empire in Australia, Indonesia(and it's surroundings), and both Americas.
9) Conquer Germanic and Italian countries.
10) Colonize and conquer Africa.
11) Conquer Asian countries.
12) Conquer the rest of the countries in the world.
13) WC?

Yeah, sounds ambitious. I don't think i'll be able to do excatly each one of them, and in order. It's just just how i look at it when i look at France in 30th of May , 1453. But i'll try to keep it that way ;)

What you mustn't expect?

I won't. Ever. Conquer Poland. It's personal nationalism ;P Not sure about Lithuania, though.

I shall write this AAR in a form of a game report plus a sort of a story. Don't expect an epic writing since my english is still bad and i wasn't ever good at this kinda stuff, i'll try my best though;)

Wish me luck, update as soon as it's done:)
 
Good luck! A very ambitious list of goals. :)

One thing, though: our image of France as being poor at fighting is post-Napoleon. His wars almost singlehandedly wiped out a generation of Frenchmen. From around 1500 to 1800 France was the superpower of Europe, leading it intellectually, economically and militarily. They still lost wars, but largely because the rest of Europe, feeling threatened, tended to ally against them.

In other words, you should find playing France easier than you think. Rich, powerful and populous, there are few countries that could rival you - perhaps the Ottomans if they do well.

Have fun!
 
Good luck!

Do not play looking at the magic BB limit number. Bad things can happen the closer you are to it.

Observe the fact that BB limit is reduced to half the vanilla basic number.

Vassals are your dearest friends. Absorb *slowly*.



If you have luck and play well, expect to achieve half your objectives... ;)
 
Yay! Yummy replies :]!
Patriotes1837 said:
France? Most wars lost? Geez... And so the ignorance triumphs again. Good luck anyway.

Edit:

The real deal

Well, didn't want to offend french in anyway. I think i would be on your side if the first thing i read wasn't this . xD Thanks for the link, i enjoy reading it;) If only this was read by those who made the french military stereotypes, i think some of them would think that over:)

stephanbathory said:
France? not surrender? this I gotta see...

:rofl:

Have fun reading, hope you'll enjoy it.

dharper said:
Good luck! A very ambitious list of goals. :)

One thing, though: our image of France as being poor at fighting is post-Napoleon. His wars almost singlehandedly wiped out a generation of Frenchmen. From around 1500 to 1800 France was the superpower of Europe, leading it intellectually, economically and militarily. They still lost wars, but largely because the rest of Europe, feeling threatened, tended to ally against them.

In other words, you should find playing France easier than you think. Rich, powerful and populous, there are few countries that could rival you - perhaps the Ottomans if they do well.

Have fun!

I didn't expect to play France as in you know, thinking it's less than a major power. It isn't history i'm trying to defeat, but the stereotype, about France loving to surrender, not having active part in some wars, like the American Revolution(that's an american stereotype) . Now i think you should know what i mean:)

And yeah, i'll enjoy doing this AAR, thanks:)

ubik said:
Good luck!

Do not play looking at the magic BB limit number. Bad things can happen the closer you are to it.

Observe the fact that BB limit is reduced to half the vanilla basic number.

Vassals are your dearest friends. Absorb *slowly*.



If you have luck and play well, expect to achieve half your objectives... ;)

It'll be the first time i'm NOT ignoring the BB limit xD So i think i'm gonna have fun. And why so pesimistic about the objectives :p ?
 
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IAmTheSpoon said:
Yay! Yummy replies :]!


Well, didn't want to offend french in anyway. I think i would be on your side if the first thing i read wasn't this . xD Thanks for the link, i enjoy reading it;) If only this was read by those who made the french military stereotypes, i think some of them would think that over:)



Have fun reading, hope you'll enjoy it.



I didn't expect to play France as in you know, thinking it's less than a major power. It isn't history i'm trying to defeat, but the stereotype, about France loving to surrender, not having active part in some wars, like the American Revolution(that's an american stereotype) . Now i think you should know what i mean:)

And yeah, i'll enjoy doing this AAR, thanks:)



It'll be the first time i'm NOT ignoring the BB limit xD So i think i'm gonna have fun. And why so pesimistic about the objectives :p ?


I would be surprised if you manage to get the first 9 points of your list, let alone the last ones.



1) Very easy

2) Easy given time (talking about historical vassals)

3) Very Easy (it is even considered in the Burgundy event chain)

4) Very Easy

5) Hard

6) Hard

7) Easy

8) Easy

9) Very Hard

10) Depends on what you want, ranges from Very Easy to Very Hard.

11) Depends on what you want, ranges from Very Easy to Impossible.

12) Impossible

13) Impossible
 
Good news from the front, Napoleons ambition is out(!!!), too bad i'm from poland, i'm gonna get it a few months later :( . Anyway...

Part 1 - The Mirror
If we don't end war, war will end us. - H. G. Wells
It was a sunny day, at the end of May.
Someone - Aahh, what a sunny day, and it's at the end of May!
Somone got into the room. -
Someone else - My King! Our spies have spotted a massive army coming on land from the sea! A massive army of english are in Bordeaux and marching towards our territories! What are your orders?
King - Oh my goodness, scribe, would you please stop screaming! Leave me be, i need my time alone to think.
Scribe - Yes lord! - The scribe got out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
King - I swear, i'm going to feed him to the dogs once... - The king muttered, and sighed. He looked at the large mirror standing in his room, opposite to his bed. It was golden, decorated all-around, with the holy cross on the top of it. The king, looked up at it, and deep in his thoughts.
Chas_vii.jpg

Voice from the mirror - You're getting old, Charles.
Charles VII - Who , what? Where are you?
Mirror Charles VII - It's me. Or should say, i'm You.
Charles VII - Have i died?
Mirror Charles VII - No, silly. I'm just you, but with a knowledge highly preceeding Yours, charles.
Charles VII - Why is this happening to me!? I don't want you! Get out of my mirror!
The mirror burst out laughing.
Mirror Charles VII - You can try your luck, this is not just a normal mirror, you know.
Charles took out his sword standing on his weapon rack and swinged it on the mirror with brutal force. However, no harm was made to the mirror. He opened his mouth wide, and fallen on his knees.
Charles VII - God, why thou have forsaken me!!!???
Mirror Charles VII - Now now king, don't you cry. I came here to help you.
Charles VII - Why...?
The mirror hummed for a few seconds and said -
Mirror Charles VII - Well.... it's personal reasons. Nothing you should know of. Get up, you're dishonouring yourself.
Charles got up.
Mirror Charles VII - Now listen, as i'm not going to repeat myself. Have you heard about the marching english armies from Bordeaux?
Charles VII - No... I mean i just did! What about them?
Mirror Charles VII - Good. I want you to start amassing an army, and the navy. Your purpose is to capture the english settlements in the French mainland. I shall help you.
Charles VII - How...?
Mirror Charles VII - Look for D'Usson brothers and Fracois Du Bosquet, they are now weak peasants, but if you give them shelter, they shall prove their worth to you as your advisors.
Charles VII - THIS IS IN OUTRAGE! I am NOT going to listen to peasants!
Mirror Charles VII - Farewell, Charles. I hope you'll kick some english ass. Talk to you later after you're done. Good bye, Charles.
Charles VII - No , don't go! I wanted to ask you something! I demand your presence back, NOW! COME BACK HERE!

And so, Charles VII accepted his fate. He was to do what a mirror asked him. He did not say anyone about what happend at his bedroom that day. The only thing he said to his scribe was to start building a powerful navy and also start recruiting men to his army. To his immense suprise, a lot of young men just reached their army-recruitment age. A day later, excatly 15 hours later after the appeal to his spies, that that if someone gets one of the future advisors to his palace, gets 20 ducats which is just enough to live peacefully without working for the rest of one's life. It turned out that the spies didn't need to look far away, since all three of them lived in Paris. Their talent shown through. They looked very simple. For example, Firmin d'Usson lacked most of his teeth. But it was all only looks. The true talent shown when he heard the government's development report for the last few years. He then made a speech to the king, saying how much could be changed with minimal effort within the government to improve lives of peoples on both high and the low. The other d'Usson brother was specialized in the military. He was very old, and a former mercenary fighter while France was ruled by the king's father, Charles VI. The last one, Francois Du Bosquet, was a very calm fellow, loving peace and harmony. He loved composing music on his father's violin and painted several poor quality but beautiful paintings(paint was something hard to make for someone living as low as Francois)
eu3129gf9.png

In the late evening that day, Charles VII got a anynomous present , a very detailed map of France.
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It was 2 tough days and nights for Charles, so Charles decided to get some sleep. This ends this part of story.

Await part 2!;)

Edit : Sorry for the font color :p i made that out of hurry :p Fixed.
 
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Now that NA is out and you haven't come far in the game yet, perhaps you should visit GamersGate?:)
 
ubik said:
I would be surprised if you manage to get the first 9 points of your list, let alone the last ones.

Which triggers my question - is MM THAT different from Vanilla? In 1.3 the first 9 points mentioned on normal difficulty would be a cakewalk with France ...

Regards

Thorsten
 
Part 2 - The French Tongue​
I love the english, they taste like duck! - Hannibal Lekter​

3 days later in a palace in Toulhouse.
Louis - WHAAAT!? So let me get this straight. You're trying to tell me , that you want me to hold some pagan artifact?
Charles - Mind your words, son. You're talking to the king. And that's not a pagan artifact - in fact, it's a christian mirror. Look, if you don't believe me, then don't. But as your king, i demand you to keep the mirror in your room after my death! That is my will!
Louis - Whatever! - Louis got out of the room.
Louis11-1.jpg
Charles - And stop dressing like a peasant! You're dishonouring me and yourself! Argh, this kid will never learn. GUARD!
Guard - Yes sire?
Charles - Call my advisors to me. Now.
Guard - Yes, my lord! At once!
A few moments later...
Charles - Firmin, what are the news from Burgundy?
Firmin - My diplomat just arrived bringing word that Burgundy allowed us military access for the time beeing.
Charles - Splendid. I want you to inform Sir Xentrailles that he can start marching to Calais with his armies.
Firmin - Yes my king. As you will. - Firmin left.
Charles - Gaston, you seem to be troubled, what's wrong?
Gaston - The english armies are marching towards us, milord.
Charles - WHAT? And you haven't told me!? You... YOU!!! ARGH! I'm surrounded by fools!
Gaston - Actually, milord, the english armies are going right into our trap. Their armies should grow weaker and weaker the further they go.
Charles - huh? What? Argh... I'm getting nervous too much... Stupid wine... Forget it. How long till we meet on the battlefield?
Gaston - That would take between 2 or 3 days. In the mean-time we're organising our troops for the english's inevitable arrival.
Charles - Great. I wish you to stay here and organize the military all around. This whole army we're having is a one big mess.
Gaston - Yes sire. As you will, sire. I shall tend to it at once! - Gaston left the room
Charles - And you, Francois... What news do you bring me?
Francois - All in all, apart from barbary pirates attacking our southern coasts, there is no other danger.
Charles - Those bloody pirates... We'll deal with them later. Thank you for informing me on that matter. Please keep me informed.
Francois - Yes, sire. - Francois left the room, leaving Charles alone.
Charles - God will prove who's the stronger one. Our fate is coming.
About 2 days later, not far from the stronghold of Toulhouse, on the plains, met 2 armies. The english, led by the famous John Neville, and on the other side, Joan Bureau and his powerful armies. King Charles and Prince Louis just arrived on the battlefield, to deliver a blow to the english armies. King Charles, on his horse, rode forth to speak to his men.
Charles - Today, we have met here, because of the will of God! Today, we have met here, because we're fighting ! Fighting for the France! Look at those fools! Show everyone that you don't fear! Show everyone, that we may suceeed! Do it for the future of your parents, your brothers and sisters, your daughters and sons! Do it , for FRANCE!!!!
If you could see the people now wielding the weapons, you would notice in their eyes a little glitter. A fire, of sort. An aura of morale, of courage, and power. It shown through , through the rage. The english armies started to advance.
Charles - Steady! STEADY! - after a few seconds he burst out - CHAAAAARRGEEE!!! - he pointed his sword towards the englishmen, galloping on his horse. Suddenly, it all went out. All seemed to grow dark... so alone... so cold... Charles had somewhat frozen. He looked at himself, and noticed an arrow to hit through his chest. He fell from his horse, his sword fell out of his hand. All he heard was echos of battle, and his son crying out "Oh my God! FATHER! NOOO!!!!" He didn't really feel or see what was around from that moment. All he could see was his life flashing over his head... His childhood and education, his first loves and his marriage, his coronation, numerous fights, the birth of his son, Louis, and of course, the mirror. He started to hear voices - "Don't go towards the light! , we need you here!!!" - He hardly regained consciousness. He was lying on
Charles - D-Did we... win? - He recognized his sons voice straight away -
Louis - Yes, we did! Joan single-handedly took out about 50 men! Everyone was amazing, half of them are currently pursuing the deserters and the rest is sieging Bordeaux! My God, this wound is deep...
Charles - Listen, Louis... There are 2 last things i want you to do... Please do keep the mirror, it's important...
Louis - I will, father, but please, the medics are going to be here any minute, please save your energy!
Charles - And the other thing is...
Louis - I said, save your energy!!!
Charles - Go kick some english a...a-ss.... - The king fallen.
Louis - No ! Please, I need you here! We all need you here! You can't die now! You mustn't .. No... please no... Father! FATHER! - He cried. It wasn't something he expected to see. Not now. He was young , didn't feel ready. Or was he? Louis closed his father's eyes and took him on his hands. He walked to his closest guards. They didn't believe what they saw.
Louis - Take my father, he needs a proper burial. - he said to his men.
Louis - If I see something to happen to my father's corpse until i'm back, i'm going to kill you, and your families. - His men didn't question him. He was now the king of France, Louis XI. Some unknown energy was in and around him. He walked to his father's former scribe, who was crying as most as he did. He put his hand on his shoulder.
Louis - There will be time to mourn later. Now we must continue, and smite the english at their homeland.
Scribe - Y-Yes.... My king. What do you wish me do?
Louis - Begin a all-out amphibious assault. Assault Meath from the western beach. I have old companions in Connacht and they would surely give us military access. Ask the Scots to give us military access. If they won't , command our men to assault from Normandy , if they will though, deplore all able men at Nottingham and advance south towards London. Do you understand? Now go to Bordeaux and show news to Joan Bureau.
Scribe - Yes , my king!!! - He took a horse and rode away.
eu3138dx9.png
Everyone was quite impressed by the effort Louis XI took into his work, inspired only by his father's tragic death. His predictations were correct.
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He also gained respect for all kinds of peoples, from both high and the low .
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Thanks to his silver tongue and a few ducats, he avoided the fates of Castille and Aragon....
eu3150jb7.png
eu3154on0.png
... which were quite disastrous for both...
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... mainly because of France's help.
eu3156vq4.png
And France even got away with it.
eu3157ur8.png
 
After transporting France's armies, it was only a matter of time till the English are crushed, since France met minimal (If any) resistance.
Situation on 1st October , 1456
eu3161iz8.png

To gain popularity in the lower classes, Louis enforced Free Subjects.( Also, Situation on 6th March , 1458)
eu3166fb9.png

On 18th of July, 1458, Louis met the Scots, currently ruled by a Regency Council, to discuss their future.

Louis then said - "United we shall conquer all of England and Ireland!" And made promises to the scottish that they will guarantee them protection as well as certain priviliges for beeing our vassal. That was something that was discussed very long in the council. Eventually though, they made the right choice.
eu3168vn3.png

By the end of 1458, all of English lands were conquered. He met with in the Palace of Oxford.

Louis - We can't just take those lands. The english would care for what is theirs. However they don't deserve to have this land. What do you think we should do with those lands now, Firmin?
Firmin - My king, as far as i'm concerned the best way to push our culture and language into theirs is propaganda.
Louis - And how would that look like?
Firmin - Simple really, milord. The only 2 centres of study here are in Norwich, and - obviously - Oxford. If we take hold of these provinces we should be able to start making this our land. It will take time, of course. It might take a few generations to achieve that goal.
Louis - Very well. I know see why were you appointed as the statesman. I appreciate your work, Firmin.
Firmin - A honour as always, my king.
Louis - Please do send a diplomat with the peace treaty. If they refuse it, this means they are mere fools making jokes out of us.

3 days later, a diplomat came back to Louis, bearing good news. The english accepted the peace treaty.
eu3172xb0.png
This means time of peace for France. A time to recover, drink for the victory and mourn for the lost. A time for the lillies to grow once again.

End of part 2
 
Damn it took me 6 hours to do this thing guys :p You better enjoy it :mad: :D

Replies! I eat you ! Terribly terribly! :p

Morgon1988 said:
Which triggers my question - is MM THAT different from Vanilla? In 1.3 the first 9 points mentioned on normal difficulty would be a cakewalk with France ...

Regards

Thorsten

Ask the modders, i don't know. I'm playing this MM thingy the 2nd time.

Mettermrck said:
This will be a rough challenge with MM, best of luck, sir! :)

Why, thank ye mate:) I'll try my best ^^

Specialist290 said:
Most interesting.

Like a few of the others, I think your goals are a bit... ambitious, to say the least, but don't let that stop you from aiming high ;) I'll be following this one.

I love followers :D Thanks ^^

Nikolai said:
Now that NA is out and you haven't come far in the game yet, perhaps you should visit GamersGate?:)

The game costs like 150 zł which is how much you pay for a brand new excellent game.(Like warcraft 3 + frozen throne when it came out in that package together) So... yeah... i'd rather wait till it gets to Poland, so i can buy it cheaper. :p

ubik said:
Change the font color... ;)

Yeah, damn :p i was such a moron . Anyways, i like it that a MM modder is watching this :)

Have your replies :p Now it's 2:00 AM so I think i'll go get some sleep. Night.
 
already a foothold in Oxfordshire! :eek:

this looks excellent... good luck.:)
 
Morgon1988 said:
Which triggers my question - is MM THAT different from Vanilla? In 1.3 the first 9 points mentioned on normal difficulty would be a cakewalk with France ...

Regards

Thorsten


You play it and check for yourself. I am a bad source, as you certainly understand. ;)
 
Patriotes1837 said:
France? Most wars lost? Geez... And so the ignorance triumphs again. Good luck anyway.

Edit:

The real deal

Found the following in the link
Battle of Gergovia - 52 B.C.
The Gallic Tribes led by Vercingetorix defeat the Roman Republic army of Julius Caesar.

But the site forgets to mention that Vercingetorix got badly beaten in the siege of Alesia along with roughly 300 000 other Gauls to came to relieve the siege. One of the most brilliant victories, Caesar was outnumbered 6 to 1!

But I'll try to go through the entire list later, certainly seems interesting!

Now on topic :)

Good luck on the AAR, MM cedrtainly makes things more interesting and difficult. I haven't read through your posts yet, but that is only because I like to read in large batches, otherwise I forget what the previous update was about.

So...eeermm...I'll be following :D