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fj44

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Aug 31, 2005
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Britannia needs no bulwarks
No towers along the steep;
Her march is o'er the mountain wave,
Her home is on the deep.

~Thomas Campbell​

Hello all, this is an English AAR. Specifically, it is an English AAR in HTTT, starting in 1526. Why would I use such a date? In the latter half of 1525, Austria inherits Bohemia and Hungary. All major players are essentially formed, with the notable exception of Great Britain.

My general aims:

1) Form Great Britain.
2) Develop a vast colonial empire.
3) Begin the industrial revolution by prioritizing manufactory construction.
4) Try to maintain a semblance of balance of power (at the very least outside of Europe, but hopefully on the continent as well).
5) Create economic dominance for England.

This AAR will be primarily gameplay-based, but if I slip into narrative for a couple updates, you'll just have to forgive me. ;)

The next post will be reserved for a table of contents, so that once this AAR gets going, it will be easy for me to refer back to previous updates.
 
Remember that you are an Englishman, and have consequently won first prize in the lottery of life.
~Cecil Rhodes​

A general overview:

England’s demesne: England, Wales, Meath (Ireland), Calais (France).

englandstart.jpg


King: Henry VIII Tudor
Heir: None. This troubles His Majesty greatly.

courtstart.jpg


The Royal Court:

Thomas Wolsey, Statesman
Thomas Cranmer, Theologian
Thomas More, Statesman
Sebastian Cabot, Explorer
Charles Brandon, General

Neighbors and countries of interest:

Scotland: What else can be said? The Scots remain a nuisance.
Tyrone: The native Irish masters of Ulster.
Connaught: The native Irish masters of Connaught.
Leinster: The native Irish masters of Leinster.
Munster: The native Irish masters of Munster.
France: The Valois dynasty controls the majority of France. François I claims Calais as a part of his birthright. Surely his claims are hollow!
Spain: Carlos von Hapsburg inherited the Low Countries from Burgundy—this is somewhat troubling. The good news: at least they are not French.
Austria: The shield of Christian Europe! Their absorption of Hungary and Bohemia gives them the resources to stop the Ottoman. We wish them luck, but not too much.

nistart.jpg


The legacy of the Magna Carta is mixed—the very existence of the document provides greater stability throughout the realm, however, the rule of His Majesty, Henry VIII is absolute. His Majesty refuses to accept the nobility’s claims to power. England’s legacy as an island nation is the sea. Specifically, the construction of ships and the training of crews is the national focus. Recently, His Majesty has become interested in funding expeditions into the Western Ocean, to find a Northwest Passage to the Indies.

A quick look at the budget situation:

budgetstart.jpg
 
An interesting choice of start date and an excellent and unquestionably correct quote to start with! :D
 
Best of luck with the AAR.
I enjoy England Balance of Power games but have usually started earlier in 1490s, will be interested to see how your rivals develop starting later.

Do you plan to begin rapid expansion in Ireland, Scotland and the new world?
 
Best of luck with the AAR.
I enjoy England Balance of Power games but have usually started earlier in 1490s, will be interested to see how your rivals develop starting later.

Do you plan to begin rapid expansion in Ireland, Scotland and the new world?

I plan on crushing the Scots and Irish as soon as practicable (Hopefully without provoking France). However, because I start with a pretty good explorer, I think my first focus is going to be to lay down some initial colonies in North America.

El Pip said:
An interesting choice of start date and an excellent and unquestionably correct quote to start with! :D
I'm glad you approve. :D

All: I hopefully will be able to write up the next update tonight.

/crosses fingers
 
The intro and the overview's theme was laid out perfectly.

The ARR figures to be a lot of fun for both the writer and the reader. I'll be following closely with a lot of interest.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:
Starting right in the reign of Henry, I see.

Good opportunity to build a navy to make them all weep, and not waste time with tournaments. :rofl:

And time enough for several wives.
 
The Fall of Scotland

1stmission.jpg


This is a nice mission to start my pursuit of colonialism with. I start with knowledge of Beothuk and Taqamquk, so that will be the site of our initial colony in the New World.

stjohns.jpg


And so, my next mission is to subjugate the Scots.

2ndmission.jpg


This mission will keep for a few years, as I have other fun things to do first.

legacyofwolsey.jpg


This is a very nice start to the game—it brings my stability up to +2, which is where I like it to hover. As a side note, my initial army is only 5000 men. Time to expand the army to 16000.

theexpandedarmy.jpg


And to accommodate this new army, I need to expand my sealift capacity…

expandingsealift.jpg


After further explorations in the New World, we discover natives. Quickly, we act to keep other powers from exploiting them.

soicreek.jpg


Henry VIII, frustrated with the absence of an heir, declares that he, and not the pope, is supreme in matters of religion.

restraintofappeals.jpg


Of course, not all Englishmen are happy with this, and so Henry VIII makes an example.

deathofthomasmore.jpg


And nine months later…

princesselizabeth.jpg


Seriously…this is absurd how well this chain actually fit the historical record.

The replacement for Thomas More:

jonathancook.jpg


And another shocking development:

spainexcom.jpg


Back to the colonial front, I expand in the Canadian islands, and benefited from a colonial event that raised the base tax—always a helpful occurrence.

tradewithnatives.jpg


And now…back to my stated goal of repressing the Scots and Irish. Ulster is the first target. It was a short, victorious war.

annexulster.jpg


The time is right to smash Scotland—France is occupied with the Hapsburgs.

habsburgvalois.jpg


The war was quick. I annihilated the Scottish army in a single battle, and then broke up my army to siege. Once Scotland was completely occupied, I vassalized them.

endofscotland.jpg


France then signed a white peace with me after a vicious blockade combined with their war with Austria and Spain.

I think this is going to turn into a ritual with France:

1) France declares war.
2) France takes Calais.
3) I blockade France.
4) France signs white peace.

While this might be irritating, it shows my safety is assured.
 
Range: Thanks. I hope it is fun for everyone!

sprites: I know almost everyone starts at the Grand Campaign bookmark. Thought I'd be different. :)

blsteen: I noticed in previous games as England, starting in 1399, I can conquer western Europe really easily. Because of that, I hadn't thought of England as a flank power, but you are certainly correct. My vision for England involves remaining free of continental entanglements, as much as that is possible with France intact. :)

RGB: Absolutely true. It scares me a bit to play without an heir. Makes me nervous! :)

All: This one was very much picture-heavy. What's your opinion on the format?
 
The Pope excommunicating Spain! No idea how unusual that is but it did make me smile at the thought of it.

Looks like good progress and I'll be intrigued to see how things go now Scotland has been put in it's rightful place.
 
The last thing anyone would expect would be the Spanish Excommunication... Wait, something isn't right there.

Good start being the local bully roughing up the Scots and the Irish. I will be interested to see how you go in the Americas as I tend to get bogged down there.
 
A very crisp and precise report of action at hand. I'm really enjoying the ARR.

Keep it up.

It's great fun.
 
So that mean British Islands are pretty much mastered already. And in terms of historical events, is that the Sack of Rome to?
 
El Pip: This game is going very well, particularly in the British Isles. Spain's excommunication may open other opportunities in the New World.

Davout: I like colonization sorts of games. It gives the player a huge amount of freedom, as far as how they want to proceed. Hopefully it goes well.

FlorisDeVijfde: North America will be my focus to start. We'll see how the Caribbean looks once I start getting established in Canada.

Range: Thanks!

Wolfhashat: Spain is pretty much a monster at this point in the game. When combined with Austria, that alliance is downright scary.

dsb3232: Hopefully I don't lose interest. Playing this game, I feel like I'm playing with a lot more confidence, with a more fluid play style. Might get me in trouble...

sprites: That is the outcome of the Spain-Austria v. France-Papal States war. Spain and Austria are HUGE.

All: I will try to get another update up tonight. We will be continuing with this format, as 'the customer is always right'. :D