Voor De Oranje Ongebreidelde Leeuw!

[WillT]

"For the Orange Lion Rampant!" (Can any Dutch Speakers tell me if my online translation was correct?)

Game version: EU3 IN
Mods: just TOT 3.0
Settings: standard (except free colonists)
Game Start: October 14, 1399

Goals: I intend to take a rather historical approach. In Europe, I will try not to expand beyond the boundaries of Netherlands and Flanders, but I will go beyond if I have a mission to (I had an annex a vassal mission, to gain the the one non-lowland province I have.) Although I will be less picky about where I colonize.

Writing Approach: I intend to write each chapter with a specific main character. It will be from this character's point of view that I shall narrate. For example, Philippe II is the main character is the main character in the intro and first chapter (and probably more to come, but I haven't played beyond chapter I yet.) I expect most of the main characters will be whoever the king is at the time, but I have intentions to create some chapters with an explorer/conquistador as the main character. I may even create some from the point of view of a general or adviser. One last thing, I intend to make each chapter 5-10 years, but some could be shorter due to death of the main character or longer due to there being nothing to write about.

One more thing before I start, this is my first AAR

INTRO
December 28, 1455

King Philippe II of Brabant celebrates the 50th anniversary of Brabant's Victory Hainaut and resulting conquest of Zeeland and Holland by his great-grandfather, Philippe I. He is about to give a speech to a crowd of people outside his palace when his chief adviser, Johannes Bielmacker, approaches him. Johannes, had been on the royal court ever since the last year of Philippe I's reign and lead the 7 year regency council while Philippe II was a minor. Johannes had also been Philippe II's father-figure since the death of his father when he was 9 and the death of his grandfather, King Jean IV, 2 years later.

"What are you waiting for Philippe? Your people are waiting in the cold to hear a speech." said Johannes.

"I'm worried the speech is not enough." Said Philippe.

"Don't worry your majesty, they will love anything you say." Responded Johannes. The country had fallen in love with it's young King. This had been especially true since he had convinced the Duke of Gelre to peacefully submit control of his country. Ever since he had started ruling after the regency three earlier, the country had only improved.

"I know that, but I'd like to have something big to say to make this special day...

I've got it!"

"What is sir?"

"Well, we have had enough of the Low Lands for long enough to say it is ours, and with annexation of Gelre... just wait until the end of the speech"

Johannes then walked on the palace balcony before a very large crowd, "Citizens of 's-Hertogenbosch and the rest of Brabant, your majesty, King Philippe II!"

The crowd then erupted into a chant of "Phil-ippe! Phil-ippe!" Philippe then walked onto the balcony waving his hand.

As the crowd began to die down, Johannes whispered in Philippe's ear, "Keep it short, it is quite cold"

Philippe then began a speech mostly focused on stories about Philippe I and the Brabantian-Hainautian War. After 10-15 minutes he said, "When Philippe I became King, Brabant was just another state in the Holy Roman Empire that was struggling in a war with Utrecht. He quickly turned the war around and annexed Utrecht. Soon after that, he went to with Hainaut to free the persecuted Dutch people in Zeeland and Holland. He brought them under Dutch control and in the process vassalized Oldenburg in punishment for supporting such an evil nation."

[applause]

"Soon after that, he convinced Freisland and Cleves to take protection under him. Jean IV later annexed Freisland and Oldenburg along with vassalizing Gelre. I have continued their work by annexing Gelre. The Dutch People have now been brought under a single King"

[applause]

"But that King will no longer be the King of Brabant"

The crowd then seemed quite confused.

"I have decided the Kingdom of Brabant will cease to exist and I shall take control of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its place."

The crowd took a few seconds to figure out what that had meant, but they soon gave a roaring applause. As the applause grew into a roaring chant of "PHIL-IPPE!! PHIL-IPPE!!" Philippe turned around and started heading back into the palace when Johannes stopped him asked, "Can we do that?"

Philippe gave a glance toward the crowd and said, "I don't really care."

Johannes then responded in a quite confused and slightly angry manner, "What do mean you don't care!? We could get invaded for this!"

Philippe then turned the crowd and said, "Listen to then. Any invader would have to kill every Dutch man, woman, and child before we give up."


I it took a couple weeks to finish the transition from the Brabant to the Netherlands. The process was completed with the Philippe II's coronation as King of the Netherlands on January 14, 1456.

The Netherlands:



A larger view:



An even larger view:



And larger:

Link because global maps are huge

Current goals:

Complete my current mission ("build a proper army" which requires 22,500 soldiers)

Free the Flemish people in Vlannderen and Antwerpen from Burgandian Control


Also, some other things: my allies are Cleves, Luxemburg, and England with Cleves also being my vassal.

And my budget is very nice:

[WillT]

CHAPTER I
BUILDING A NEW NATION
1456-1464

After his speech, Philippe found a new sense of nation pride falling upon his nation. No longer did matter where in the Netherlands you are from, all that matters now is that you are Dutch. Philippe wanted to ensure this new pride was protected, so he order a 2nd army of 10,000 be built over the course of the next few years. It would be 7,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry, just like the existing army. He ordered the first 2,000 cavalry to begin training immediately.

Just after that order was given, a Burgundian diplomat arrived at the palace. There had been tension between Brabant and Burgundy ever since the King of Burgundy had banned all Brabantian merchants from Antwerpen many years ago. "Your majesty, the King of Milan and Burgundy has a message for you." Said the diplomat as handed Philippe a scroll.

"Tell your King that if he is not going to turn his back on us again, this could be the start of good relations between two nations."

"It shall be done." Said the diplomat and he went to leave the throne room.

Just as the merchant left the room Johannes asked, "Do you really mean that?"

"I know that as soon as our merchants are competitive against in Antwerpen again, they will kick us out again, so I might as well seem nice."


After a few years of building a new army, Philippe declared it completed. He then decided to visit the camp just outside the capital, 's-Hertogenbosch, as morale booster. He spent most of a day there, he casual talked with with the soldiers, ate with them, and before he left he gave a very short speech to some of the higher ranking soldiers.

"A country's significance in the world is not measured by its size in land or population, or how its relations are with other countries. A nation's significance in the world is measured by 2 things and two things only. The first is the size of the army. Just using that, our significance in the world has just doubled."

[cheers from the crowd]

"The other is the quality of its soldiers. Using both of those I can claim the most important nation in the world!"

[even loader cheers]

Philippe then said goodbye and mounted his horse to start riding back to 's-Hertogenbosch.

The next day Philippe, Johannes, and Jean-Philippe Desgouttes, Philippe's second adviser, were talking about what the nation's priorities should be now that the army was complete.

Johannes was the first to bring an idea up, "We must bring the Flemish in Burgundy into our Empire."

"Agreed, but let's wait until they redeclare their embargo, it is only a matter of time." responded Jean-Philippe.

"I agree with Jean Philippe, but once have done that, we need a larger priority. Talking with soldiers yesterday gave me an idea. They have heard rumors that Portuguese explorers have discovered new lands beyond the oceans and that they are making settlements there. Our main goal for the country should be to set up our own colonies beyond the seas. We should be determined to set up our own settlements to challenge Portugal in the place the Portuguese call the Caribbean."

So it was settled, the Dutch would plan to attack Burgundy when the embargo was redeclared, but their main goal was to start colonizing.


As Jean-Philippe said "it is only a matter of time."

Philippe immediately raised Army wages to war level and put his troops on the border. As soon as everything was in place, war was declared. Milan and Baden joined on the side of Burgundy and England, Cleves and Luxembourg joined on the side of the Netherlands.

Dutch War Council: (Due to a lack of high ranking commanders in the Netherlands, the war council was only 2 people, Philippe, who is himself in command of the "Prinselijk Legar", and the commander of the "Staatse Legar" whose name has been lost to history)

"Do we know how many soldiers the enemy has?" asked Philippe.

"Yes, we are about even in infantry and we hold a slight advantage in Cavalry, but we have another advantage. Milan and Baden do not have access through the countries they need to reach us." responded the unnamed commander.

"So we attack the Burgundian Lowlands with England and when the main Burgundian Army shows up from Burgundy Proper, we crush it while the armies of Milan and Baden are forced to sit and wait?"

"That's was what I was thinking."

"Okay, I will take the Prinselijk Legar to Antwerpen and you wait in Brabant in case the main Burgundian army attacks. If they go to defend the Burgundian Lowlands attack them there."

So the plan was set and it worked quite well:



After the Battle of Vlaanderen, another War Council took place. I was decided that Philippe would take Prinselijk Legar to attack Burgundy Proper and the Staatse Legar would attack Baden.

When Philippe arrived to began laying siege to Nevers, he discovered a miracle:




Philippe had just joined the Staatse Legar in Baden when peace talks with Milan began. Philippe was just demanding that Antwerpen be ceded, but it wasn't until the Baden's army was crushed (and Milan had lost all but a few provinces to France) that the deal was accepted.


Philippe was waiting in his palace when his diplomat to France arrived.

"What is the news from France?" asked Philippe

"They have agreed to peace with Milan and Burgundy."

"The conditions?"

"Burgundy is to cede all territories except Bourgogne and Vlaanderen to France and Vlaanderen shall be released under the independant state of Flanders. And Flanders is allied with France."

"Then I guess we won't be attacking them. We still want Vlaanderen, but I think we should take a diplomatic approach to annexing them."



Current Goals:

Diploannex Flanders

Improve my navy beyond 2 ships

Get QftNW (it should only be a couple more years before I can get it)

Begin exploring

Start colonizing (and complete my mission to colonize the Caribbean)


Global Map

[EUROO7]

Very successful war against the Burgundians!

Now for the colonies in the caribbean...

Can you even reach them yet?

Great AAR, I will be following!

[Capibara]

Interesting, that was a good start, suscribes

[WillT]

I forgot to add a new set goals to the end of Chapter I, so I edited it and also added a new global map.

Originally Posted by EUROO7

Now for the colonies in the caribbean...

Can you even reach them yet?

If mean in terms of colonial range, I don't know, but I should have plenty of time. France, Castile, England, and Portugal all have their 2nd idea, but only Portugal picked QftNW.

[FYROM]

The Dutch have certainly become popular!

That's a really nice start, managed to knock down Burgundy without many problems. I wish England had been so helpful in my game. Better get to the New World quick before the Spanish and Portuguese take everything!

[Eber]

Another Dutch AAR, I like it!

I also like the historical goals you set for yourself. Good job so far and welcome to AARland!

[WillT]

Originally Posted by FYROM

The Dutch have certainly become popular!

Yep Now I need to finish reading your AAR.

That's a really nice start, managed to knock down Burgundy without many problems. I wish England had been so helpful in my game.

I was surprised by how many troops they sent (I think it was about 15,000), but I was concerned that they wouldn't send enough troops to aid in fighting Milan, but I was pretty confident when I discovered France was at war with Milan/Burgundy. I was sure I would be fine when I saw Blue lines going through most of Milan

Better get to the New World quick before the Spanish and Portuguese take everything!

As I said in my last post, I don't think I'll need to worry about Spain for a while

[Enewald]

Another NetherlandiAAR.


Golden Horde alive, and rest of Europe not that oddish.

Just start colonizing, and maybe attack the indian states for easy gold.
Allways easy.

[Tjena Med Laxen]

Love netherlands ^^

But you'll prolly have to fight france sometime soon...

[comagoosie]

I like this, and the war seemed nice and easy and not to mention profitable.

[WillT]

There will be a slight change with the screenshots in this chapter. I am being more friendly to those here who have lower resolutions. I have cropped the screenshots to show only the only most important part. If you still want to see the big picture, just click the screenshot and you will get the full screenshot.

CHAPTER II
GLORY MUST END
1464-1468

After Flanders accepted vassalization, Philippe decided money would saved to fund expanding the navy. The palace soon became very quiet due to little happening in the nation. The quiet ended after a month.

Philippe was in the throne room with some Dutch shipbuilders. They were being briefed on military shipbuilding by an English shipbuilder. The English diplomat to the Netherlands was also present, but no one else.

Suddenly shouting was heard, "A call to arms! A call to arms from England!" The English diplomat began walking toward the door while every else just paused staring while at the door. When the throne room door finally opened, a messenger ran in and gave a rolled parchment to the English diplomat. He unrolled it, glanced over it, walked over to Philippe, and gave the parchment to him. At this point people were beginning to crowd in from all over the palace. They knew they had been lucky to not have gone to war with France since they allied with England 20 years ago and they were worried this was the time.

After Philippe read the parchment, he spent a few seconds translating it into Dutch. "England has declared war on Tyrone. Castille will come to the aid of its ally. France will only be involved on an act of its own aggression." A sigh of relief went through the room after Philippe said the last sentence.

Philippe then turned to speak to the English diplomat. "When you return to England, tell King Richard that we will join the war, but our spare manpower is still very low after the Burgundian War. We will not be sending any troops until we have enough reserves"

Despite the war there was still little happening in the royal palace. To get out of the the boredom, Philippe decided to inspect the soldiers of the Prinselijk Legar in Antwerpen. As he was just about to leave, a messenger rode onto the palace grounds. He rode up to Philippe and the three guards he was about to leave with. When he stops, he shows a symbol that tells them he is a messenger of the King of Luxembourg.

"8,000 Castillian infantry have been spotted in northern France. They are marching toward Leige"

Philippe then gave a few seconds of though and then said, "When you return, thank your King for helping us despite not being involved in this war, but first you may feel free to stay here overnight. The stable is over there."

"Thank You, sir," said the messenger as began riding to the stable.

Philippe then turned to his guards and said pointing to one, "Go to Utrecht and inform the commander of the Staatse Legar of this news and tell him to start moving the army to Limburg." He nodded and started riding. Philippe then pointed to the next guard, "You'll be coming with me to Antwerpen. And you," Said Philippe as he pointed to the last guard, "Go into the palace and make sure everyone in the palace knows what just happened here."

Philippe then mounted his horse along with the second guard. "Come on!" Said Philippe as they began riding toward the gate of the palace grounds.

The Castillian and Dutch armies ended up meeting in Limburg, but the Castillians were defeated before the battle began. The Dutch cavaly alone outnumbered the entire Castillian army. The Castillians retreated back to Leige before too much of their army had been defeated.

Dutch War Council: (still only two people)

"The time is ours, we must strike the Castillians will they are still defeated," said Philippe.

"Our manpower is still low. Any soldiers we lose will not be replaced quickly."

"We can't wait until we rebuild. They will be rebuilding too. We have the advantage now. Now is the time to strike."

"You have a point."


The Dutch then pressed the attack, but the Castillians kept retreating whenever the Dutch army drew near. The armies then began going back and forth just south of the Dutch-French Border with the Dutch Army never being able to deliver the final blow. After several months, the Prinselijk Legar caught up with the Castillians before they had a chance to retreat, but the Dutch had lost many due supplies not being able to keep up with the Army.

After the Dutch defeated the attempted invasion, Philippe ordered his troops to come back to the Netherlands so the army could begin rebuilding. All the fighting from then on was on the Iberian Peninsula. At first, Castille was easily defeating the Portuguese, but when the English started arriving, the Castillians struggled.

Six months after the final Battle of Hainaut and just after the new year:

"Is this last of it?" Philippe asked a tax collector from Oldenburg who had just arrived at the palace with his collection of taxes.

"Yes, I believe it is," replied the tax collector.

"Start putting it in the treasury," said Philippe.

The tax collector then started taking the money into palace since the treasury was under the palace. Philippe then turned to Johannes, "Insure that all our top military officers know I will be hiring a full time general using the war-time taxes." Johannes then turned to go into the palace.

A messenger then came riding up to Philippe. "What is it?"

The messenger then handing a parchment to Philippe, "Here your majesty."

Philippe unrolled the parchment.

Philippe then turned toward Johannes who was just about to walk into the palace, "Forget what I just said, England made peace with Castille! Instead, have the ports of Holland, Zeeland, and Antwerpen each start making a Carrack."


The new year saw many changes in the nation so it could start exploring. After the construction began on the Carracks, 2 Navigators were hired to the royal court: Jorgen Scholten, who was hired just after the death Jean-Philippe Desgouttes, and Joost Kortenaer, who was hired a few months after. An explorer, Jan Van Keppel, was hired to lead the ships into the unknown.

After a year, the fleet was ready and they set sail to the English controlled Azores, which was to serve as the base of their operations. Once they got there, they began repairs on the ships and soon afterword, they set sail into the unknown. They end up going west to place a place called the Sargasso Sea before they had to turn back. The ships returned safely, but across the Sea, someone didn't return from the Sea safely.

Philippe had gone to London to observe Christ Mass with King Richard III of England, but on his journey back across the North Sea, Philippe caught a bad cold. When they landed in Antwerpen, Philippe was rushed to a local noble's house, but the cold was already too bad...

He was only 31. He was sonless, so his brother Willem took the throne.

Current goals:

Continue exploring

Colonize

Don't get killed in the war France, which should happen soon:

Figure out how Castille's alliances with Portugal and Lorraine remained intact through the entire war

One last thing, I'm considering editing the game files so there will be passage from Kent to Calais. I think this would help overcome the terrible naval AI and make it so England will be more able to send its army to France. What do the readAARs think of this?

[FYROM]

I'd be against it. In my game England has defeated France in every war they've fought, simply because they blockade with their massive fleet. Eventually England tends to get things together and amass a +20k army in Calais in preparation for attacks on France. If England is doing poorly, then so be it, just run with the situation. Although I know the feeling of frustration towards historical powers not living up to their potential.

[Pietbont]

Aha, another AAR of the Netherlands, great
Do take Indonesia, it's bound to be Dutch

PS: Also, the word "Army" in Dutch isn't "Legar" but "Leger", just to let you know, rest is fine =O

[EUROO7]

I would advise getting more people in the war council.

About the strait in the channel, I wouldn't do it.

You never know if France will use it to easily invade the Island.

[Eber]

I also advise against it. Let it play out and see what happens.

[WillT]

Okay, there will be no passage.

BTW, I just checked and, England and allies have an combined army of ~85,000 soldiers . France's army, France currently has no significant allies, is currently ~35,000 soldiers. Although, France still has a huge manpower advantage

[Middelkerke]

Nice AAR...

Rampant doesn't realy have a translation so i would keep it as it is...
You translated Army into Legar it should be leger.

With Staatse legar doe you mean the army of the state (people) or the army of the goverment ( staten-generaal?)

[Capibara]

I join the ones against it. See all the reasons above. That's cheating too as well

[WillT]

Originally Posted by Middelkerke

You translated Army into Legar it should be leger.

With Staatse legar doe you mean the army of the state (people) or the army of the goverment ( staten-generaal?)

I'm using the the army names that game gives you. Incase you don't have IN, the game gives you army names in your country's language. So, you'll have to ask Paradox what it means. The Legar bit was a case of bad coping.